PUBUCATION  OF 
ALABAMA  STATE  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHIVES  AND  HISTORY 

HISTORICAL  AND  PATRIOTIC  SERIES 


li 


NO.  6 


THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD 
IN  ALABAMA 


1815-1828 


BY 

THOMAS  PERKINS  ABERNETHY.  Ph.  D. 

Professor  of  History,  University  of  Chattanooga 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/formativeperiOOaberiala 


PUBUCATION  OF 
THE  ALABAMA  STATE  DEPARTMENT  OF  ARCHIVES  AND  HISTORY 

HISTORICAL  AND  PATRIOTIC  SERIES 
NO.  6 


THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD 
IN  ALABAMA 


1815-1828 


BY 

THOMAS  PERKINS  ABERNETHY.  Ph.  D. 

Professor  of  History,  University  of  Chattanooga 


MONT>aOMBRir,    ALA. 

THBS    BROWN     PRINTING     COMPANY 

1022 


//oBSio 


SRLF. 
URt 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

Letter  of  Transmittal 5 

Preface    „ 7-8 

I.  The  Mississippi  Territory 9-19 

II.  The  New  Country 20-23 

III.  The  Immigrants    - 24-32 

IV.  The  Division  of  the  Territory 33-40 

V.  Alabama  Becomes  a  State 41-49 

VI.  The  Public  Lands 50-56 

VII.  Agriculture _ 57-72 

VIII.  Rivers  and  Roads 73-85 

IX.  The  Commercial  Situation 86-92 

X.  The  Bank  Question 93-101 

XI.  Politics  and  the  Election  of  1824 102-109 

XII.  Politics  and  Federal  Relations,  1824-1828 110-121 

XIII.  Religion,  Education,  and  the  Press 122-130 

XIV.  Social  Conditions  and  Slavery 131-138 

XV.  Conclusion 139-146 

Bibliography    147-159 

Maps  and  Illustrations 161-192 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Note:  Maps,  charts,  and  illustrations,  grouped  together  at  the  back 
of  this  book,  are  listed  below  under  the  chapters  which  have  reference 
to  them. 

Plate  Page 

Chapter     I, 

1.  Indian   Cessions  in  Mississippi   Territory 161 

Chapter  II. 

2.  Geological   Map  of  Alabama 162 

Chapter   III. 

3.  Road     Map,     1818 „ „„ » 163 

4.  Origin    of    Population _ - 164 

Chapter    V. 

5.  Vote   for     Governor,     1819 ~ 165 

6.  Vote  to  Disapprove  Censuring  of  Jackson,  1819 166 

7.  Melish    Map    of    Alabama,    1820 167 

8.  Vote   to   Reduce   Judicial    Tenure _ 168 

9.  Vote  Concerning  Establishment  of  Branch   Banks 169 

Chapter     VI. 

10.  Indian   Cessions   in   Alabama - 170 

11.  Value   of   Lands    Sold    in    Alabama 171 

Chapter     VII. 

12.  Average  Yearly  Price  of  Middling  Upland  Cotton „ 172 

13.  Average  Valuation  of  Slaves  in  Mobile _ _ „. 173 

14.  Cotton    Crop    of    South    Alabama 174 

15.  Slave    Population,    1818. 175 

16.  Slave    Population,    1824 176 

17.  Slave    Population,    1830 _ _....  177 

Chapter   VIII. 

18.  River    Map _ _....- 178 

Chapter   IX. 

19.  Imports   and   Exports    at    Mobile 179 

Chapter   XI. 

20.  Presidential    Election    of    1824 180 

21.  Senate  Vote  on  Motion  Proposing  Jackson  for  Presidency 181 

22.  House  Vote  on   Motion   Pronosing  Jackson   for   Presidency 182 

23.  Election  of  U.   S.   Senator,   1822,    (King  and   Crawford) 183 

24.  Election  of  U.   S.   Senator,  1822,    (Kelly  and  McKinley) 184 

25.  Election    of    U.    S. Senator,    1824 185 

Chapter  XJT 

26.  Vote  on  Bill  to  Extend  Jurisdiction  of  State  Over  Creeks 186 

27.  House  Vote  in  Election  of  U.  S.  Senator,  1826 187 

28.  State  House,  Tuscaloosa 188 

29.  Vote  on  Bill  Fixing  State  Canital  at  Tuscaloosa 189 

30.  Vote  on  Lewis  Report  Proposing  Jackson  for  Presidency 190 

Chapter    XIII. 

31.  University  of  the  State  of   Alabama 191 

Chapter    XIV. 

32.  Vote  on  Bill  to  Prohibit  Import  of  Slaves  to  State 192 


LETTER  OF  TRANSMITTAL. 


To  His  Excellency, 

Governor  Thomas  E.  Kilby, 
Montgomery,  Ala. 
Sir: 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit,  herewith,  recommending  that 
it  be  published  as  bulletin  No.  6  of  the  Historical  and  Patriot- 
ic Series  of  the  State  Department  of  Archives  and  History,  a 
manuscript  entitled  "The  Formative  Period  in  Alabama,  1815- 
1828."  The  author,  Dr.  Thomas  Perkins  Abernethy,  is  a  na- 
tive Alabamian,  at  present,  Professor  of  History  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Chattanooga.  It  was  upon  this  thesis  that  he  re- 
ceived his  Ph.  D.  degree  from  Harvard  University. 

In  his  preface.  Dr.  Abernethy  has  set  forth  the  sources  from 
which  he  derived  the  information  presented  in  his  thesis.  It 
will  be  seen  that  exhaustive  research  has  been  made. 

Copies  of  this  bulletin  will  be  placed,  with  the  compliments 
of  this  Department,  in  all  public  libraries  in  Alabama  and  in 
the  college  and  high  school  libraries  of  the  State.  As  long  as 
the  issue  lasts,  it  will  be  subject  to  call  by  any  student  in  the 
State  with  the  hope  that  a  perusal  of  these  pages  will  inspire 
in  the  heart  of  the  reader  a  love  and  veneration  for  our  past 
and  a  renewed  dedication  of  loyal  service  to  our  future. 

Very  respectfully, 

MARIE  BANKHEAD  OWEN, 

Director. 


PREFACE 


Dr.  A.  C.  Cole  begins  his  study  of  The  Whig  Party  in  the 
South  with  the  year  1830,  but  necessarily,  the  basis  for  the 
confusing  political  alignments  of  the  Southern  Whigs  lay 
largely  in  the  years  that  had  gone  before  the  actual  formation 
of  the  party.  Alabama  received  her  first  great  influx  of  pop- 
ulation and  underwent  the  formative  period  of  her  develop- 
ment during  the  apparently  quiet  administration  of  Monroe, 
when  party  lines  were  not  recognized  as  existing.  The  new 
conditions  of  the  frontier  are  sure  to  change  old  habits  and 
old  views,  but  the  absolute  lack  of  avowed  partisan  division 
during  the  period  when  Alabama  was  receiving  her  first 
wave  of  population  gives  us  an  especially  good  chance  to  study 
a  society  where  men's  political  views  are  almost  certain  to  be 
based  directly  on  economic  interest  or  individual  conviction. 
With  this  in  mind,  it  has  been  with  the  double  purpose  of  ob- 
taining an  understanding  of  the  conditions  under  which  the 
cotton  kingdom  was  planted  on  the  Gulf  Coast,  and  of  trying 
to  discover  the  process  by  which  fixed  party  principles  were 
crystallized  out  of  the  solution  of  social  and  economic  elements 
which  existed  in  Alabama  during  the  period  of  settlement 
which  followed  the  War  of  1812,  that  the  present  work  was 
undertaken. 

A  substantial  body  of  material,  principally  in  the  Library 
of  Congress,  the  Public  Library  of  New  York  City,  the  Ala- 
bama Department  of  Archives  and  History,  the  Mississippi 
Department  of  Archives  and  History,  and  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  Library  of  Mobile,  has  been  searched, 
but  there  are  important  gaps  in  the  body  of  information  col- 
lected. This  is  especially  the  case  in  connection  with  the  sub- 
jects of  agriculture  and  slave-management,  but,  as  the  dis- 
covery of  local  peculiarities  was  the  principal  object  of  the 
study,  it  has  seemed  best  not  to  fill  in  these  blanks  from  gen- 
eral accounts.  Only  such  information  as  deals  particularly 
with  Alabama  has  been  used. 

In  connection  with  questions  of  politics,  there  also 
has  been  difficulty.  In  a  period  of  settlement  and  of  polit- 
ical uncertainty,  there  are  few  established  lines  of  policy  to 
guide  the  student  on  his  way.     But,  on  the  other  hand,  there 


8         THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

is  added  interest  in  discovering  from  among  the  various  prob- 
lems which  confront  the  community,  the  ones  which  develop 
sufficient  significance  to  shape  the  course  of  events  and  to  be- 
come solidified  into  partisan  principles.  Thus  the  study  of 
the  formative  period  has  afforded  an  opportunity  to  find  the 
principal  questions  upon  which  the  people  were  divided,  and 
hence  to  gain  some  understanding  of  the  basis  of  later  align- 
ments. But,  even  so,  many  points  upon  which  we  would  like 
to  have  information  are  left  in  comparative  and  tantalizing  ob- 
scurity. The  principal  cause  for  this,  as  it  appears  to  the  writ- 
er, is  that  the  questions  which  agitated  the  men  of  these  early 
years  were  largely  local  matters,  and  the  political  leaders  had 
not  yet  gained  sufficient  importance  outside  their  own  State 
to  enable  them  to  make  a  lasting  impression.  One  of  the  poli- 
ticians who  grew  up  with  Alabama  was  William  R.  King,  but, 
though  he  later  came  to  be  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States,  we  have  few  records  to  reveal  his  mind  during  the  in- 
teresting time  when  his  career  was  taking  shape.  And  so  it 
is  for  most  of  the  others. 

This  work,  submitted  as  a  doctoral  dissertation  to  the  Fac- 
ulty of  the  Graduate  School  of  Arts  and  Sciences  of  Harvard 
University,  was  prepared  under  the  stimulating  direction  of 
Professor  Frederick  Jackson  Turner.  The  materials  collect- 
ed by  the  late  Dr.  Thomas  M.  Owen,  of  the  Alabama  State 
Department  of  Archives  and  History,  made  the  research  pos- 
sible. Each  of  these  men  has  been  of  inestimable  aid  and  en- 
couragement in  my  work. 

I  am  indebted  also  to  Dr.  Dunbar  Rowland,  of  the  Missis- 
sippi State  Department  of  Archives  and  History,  and  to  Mr. 
J.  C.  Fitzpatrick,  of  the  Manuscript  Division  of  the  Library  of 
Congress,  for  aid  in  the  collection  of  materials.  Professor 
L.  C.  Gray,  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  office  of 
Farm  Management,  kindly  read  the  chapter  dealing  with  agri- 
culture ;  and  Dr.  Roland  M.  Harper,  of  the  Alabama  Geologi- 
cal Survey,  gave  me  valuable  aid  in  connection  with  geograph- 
ical questions,  but  of  course  the  writer  is  responsible  for  the 
treatment  of  these  subjects  given  herein. 

THOS.  P.  ABERNETHY. 


Chapter  I. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  TERRITORY 

When  England  received  West  Florida  from  Spain  at  the 
close  of  the  Seven  Years'  War,  its  northern  boundary  was  the 
thirty-first  parallel;  but  England  later,  for  administrative 
purposes,  changed  the  line  so  that  it  ran  from  the  Chatta- 
hoochee due  westward  along  the  parallel  of  thirty-two  de- 
grees, twenty-eight  minutes  to  the  point  where  the  Yazoo 
flows  into  the  Mississippi.  When  Spain  recovered  the  Flori- 
das  at  the  close  of  the  American  Revolution,  she  insisted  on 
the  northern  boundary  as  fixed  by  England,  but  the  United 
States  protested,  and  finally  won  the  point  when  the  treaty 
of  1795  fixed  the  thirty-first  parallel  as  the  international 
boundary. 

The  disputed  territory  which  extended  from  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Chattahoochee  was  finally  evacuated  by  Spain  in  1797, 
and  the  next  year,  the  United  States,  with  the  acquiescence  of 
Georgia,  which  also  laid  claim  to  the  land,  established  a  terri- 
torial form  of  government  for  the  district. ^  This  was  the 
original  Mississippi  Territory.  In  1800  an  elective  assembly 
was  authorized, 2  and  in  1802  Georgia  relinquished  her  claim.-'' 
After  two  more  years,  the  boundary  was  extended  northward 
to  the  Tennessee  line,^  and  thus  the  Territory  came  to  include 
all  that  land  which  is  embraced  by  the  present  states  of  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi,  except  such  as  lies  below  the  thirty-first 
degree  of  latitude. 

Within  this  extensive  area  there  were  but  two  white  settle- 
ments: one  upon  the  lower  Mississippi,  and  the  other  upon 
the  lower  Tombigbee  River.  Those  who  lived  upon  the  Tom- 
bigbee  had  filtered  through  the  Indian  country  from  the  time 
of  the  Revolution  onward ;  some  were  Tory  refugees,  some 
were  patriots  who  had  left  their  old  homes  to  seek  new  ones, 
and  some  were  traders  with  the  Indians.  The  blood  of  these 
men  was  various:  English  and  Scottish  traders  mingled  with 


1  Statutes  at  Large,  II,  229-235. 

2  Ibid.,  II,  455-456. 

3  American  State  Papers.  Lands,  V,  384-385. 

4  Statutes  at  Large,  II,  445-446. 


10  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

Yankee  frontiersmen,  and  many  of  them  had  taken  native 
wives.  The  half-breeds  were  often  men  of  wealth,  and  no  dis- 
tinction of  race  seems  to  have  been  made  in  the  rugged  life  of 
the  frontier.'' 

St.  Stephens,  a  struggling  village  of  log  cabins,  was  the 
principal  settlement  in  the  Tombigbee  region,  and  here  the 
Government  established  a  post  for  trading  with  the  Choctaw 
Indians,  and,  as  soon  as  Georgia  gave  up  her  claim  to  the  soil, 
a  land  office.  The  act  arranging  for  the  disposal  of  the  pub- 
lic domain  was  passed  in  1803."  It  provided  for  the  valid- 
ation of  claims  under  the  British  and  Spanish  grants ;  quieted 
claims  under  the  act  of  Georgia  establishing  Bourbon  County 
in  1785 ;'  granted  tracts  of  640  acres  to  actual  settlers  at  the 
time  of  the  Spanish  evacuation  jn  1797;  and  gave  preemption 
rights  to  settlers  occupying  land  at  the  time  the  act  was  pass- 
ed. Settling  on  public  lands  was  forbidden,  but  squatters 
continued  to  come  in  and  an  act  of  1807  extended  preemption 
rights  to  those  who  had  already  come  in,  but  once  more  pro- 
hibited entries  upon  government  lands  for  the  future.  Lands 
not  otherwise  appropriated  were  to  be  surveyed  and  put  on 
sale  at  public  auction  according  to  the  provisions  which  had 
already  been  adopted  for  the  Northwest  Territory.  Accord- 
ingly in  1807  the  first  sales  took  place  at  St.  Stephens. "* 

In  1806  the  Government  acquired  from  the  Indians  a  small 
triangle  of  land  lying  between  the  Tennessee  border  and  the 
great  bend  in  the  Tennessee  River.  In  1809  this  tract,  the 
original  Madison  County,  was  offered  for  sale  and  readily 
taken  up  by  cotton  planters  from  Georgia.  Here  Huntsville 
was  built  about  a  great  spring,  and  soon  came  to  be  the  com- 
mercial center  of  the  new  region.'-^ 

Cotton  was  raised  in  the  Alabama-Tombigbee  region  as 
early  as  1772;^"  the  manufacture  of  cotton  cloth  was  begun  by 
the  Cherokees  in  1796-97;"  and  Colonel  Benjamin  Hawkins, 
who  was  for  many  years  agent  for  the  Creeks,  states  in  his 
Sketch  of  the  Creek  Country  for  1798  and  1799  that  a  Scottish 
trader,  who  had  made  his  home  among  the  Indians  and  had 
taken  a  native  woman  for  his  wife,  first  raised  a  quantity  of 

•'■<  Pickett,  History  of  Alabama,  Chap.  XXXI. 

«  Statutes  at  Large,  II,  229-235. 

'  E.G.  Burnett  in  American  Historical  Review,  XV,  66-111,  297-353. 

8  American  State  Papers,  Misc.,  II,  417. 

•J  Betts,  History  of  Huntsville,  23-24. 

10  Pickett,  History  of  Alabama,  326. 

11  Morse,  Report  on  Indian  Affairs,  167. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  TERRITORY  11 

f;reen  seed  cotton  for  the  market,  but,  finding  it  more  profit- 
able to  manufacture  his  own  staple,  employed  eleven  hands, 
besides  his  own  family,  in  the  industry. 12  in  1802  the  first 
cotton  gins  were  introduced  into  the  Alabama  country,  two 
of  the  three  of  them  being  set  up  among  the  Indians. 1=^  By  1808 
the  staple  had  come  to  be  the  leading  agricultural  product  of 
the  region. 14 

From  the  very  first  its  culture  among  the  whites  seems  to 
have  been  associated  with  negro  labor,  for  in  1810  slaves 
made  up  nearly  forty  per  cent,  of  the  population  upon  the  low- 
er Tombigbee;  and  ten  years  later,  after  the  cotton  regime 
was  well  begun,  the  proportion  of  slaves  in  this  early-settled 
region  remained  abnormally  high.  The  men  who  entered 
Madison  County  in  1809  were  largely  Georgia  planters  of  con- 
siderable means.  They  came  especially  for  the  purpose  of  rais- 
ing cotton,  and  their  slaves  were  numerous.  Their  entrance 
into  Mississippi  Territory  at  this  time  indicates  that  the  cot- 
ton regime  might  have  begun  earlier  than  it  did  had  not  the 
War  of  1812  intervened  to  delay  it. 

But  the  culture  of  cotton  was  still  in  its  infancy  in  1812. 
Scrawny  hogs,  whose  ancestors  are  supposed  to  have  been  left 
by  DeSoto,  and  whose  descendants  are  said  to  be  the  modern 
razor-back,  roamed  the  woods;  and  in  the  cane-break  region 
near  the  Gulf,  large  herds  of  cattle,  sometimes  numbering 
many  hundreds,  found  their  own  forage  summer  and  winter 
alike. 

Aside  from  the  fur  trade  with  the  natives  and  the  growing 
cotton  industry,  there  seems  to  have  been  little  commerce  caj> 
ried  on  during  these  years  in  the  Alabama  country,  and  the 
reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  Mobile,  the  only  accessible  outlet, 
was  in  the  hands  of  the  Spanish,  and  the  duties  which  they 
charged  were  almost  prohibitive.  In  order  to  avoid  the  pay- 
ment of  them,  Gaines,  the  agent  at  St.  Stephens  for  the  Choc- 
taws,  brought  his  supplies  down  the  Tennessee  River  to  Col- 
bert's Ferry,  above  Muscle  Shoals,  carried  them  over  a  port- 
age, which  came  to  be  known  as  Gaines'  Trace,  to  the  head  of 
navigation  on  the  Tombigbee  at  Cotton  Gin  Port;  and  thence 
floated  them  down  to  St.  Stephens.  ^^  This  was  the  route  by 
which  a  number  of  the  early  Tombigbee  settlers  reached  their 

12  Hawkins,  Sketch  of  the  Creek  Country,  44,  55. 

13  Pickett,  History  of  Alabama,  469-470. 

1 4  Jack,  Sectionalism  and  Party  Politics  in  Alabama,  7. 

15  Pickett,  History  of  Alabama,  506. 


12  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

destination,'"  and  it  long  remained  an  important  route  of  trav- 
el for  the  pioneer. 

Until  1806,  rivers  and  Indian  trails  were  the  only  means  of 
communication  in  the  Alabama  region,  but  in  that  year  Con- 
gress provided  for  the  construction  of  the  first  two  roads.^^ 
One  was  to  connect  Nashville,  Tennessee,  with  Natchez  upon 
the  Mississippi,  crossing  the  Tennessee  River  at  Muscle 
Shoals.  It  was  known  as  the  "Natchez  Trace"  and  came  to 
be  a  highway  of  no  little  importance  in  the  western  country. 
The  other  was  to  follow  the  route  from  Athens,  Georgia,  to 
New  Orleans,  passing  through  the  settlement  on  the  Tom- 
bigbee.  It  came  to  be  known  as  the  "Federal  Road"  and 
along  it  thousands  of  settlers  later  found  their  way  to  Ala- 
bama. 

Such  were  the  slender  bands  of  communication  which  tied 
the  frontier  settlements  of  eastern  Mississippi  Territory  to 
the  world  from  which  they  were  separated  by  hundreds  of 
miles  of  Indian  wilderness.  Between  the  Tombigbee  clear- 
ings and  the  settled  part  of  Georgia  lay  the  confederacy  of 
the  Creeks  extending  its  boundaries  northward  well  toward 
the  Tennessee  line.  Adjoining  the  Creeks  on  the  north  lay 
the  territory  of  the  Cherokees,  extending  eastward  into  Geor- 
gia and  northward  into  Tennessee.  Between  the  Tombigbee 
and  the  settlements  upon  the  lower  Mississippi  lay  the  lands 
of  the  Choctaws,  and  northward  of  them  the  country  of  the 
Chickasaws  took  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  future 
Alabama  and  extended  across  western  Tennessee. 

These  Indian  tribes  of  the  South  were  further  advanced 
toward  civilization  than  were  most  of  their  North  American 
kinsmen,  and,  though  the  westward  migration  of  the  whites 
was  still  in  its  infancy,  they  saw  clearly  the  problem  which 
confronted  them.  They  had  two  alternatives  compatible  with 
peace, — to  perfect  themselves  in  the  arts  of  civilization,  so  as  to 
compete  with  the  new-comers,  or  to  be  driven  off  the  land 
which  had  been  theirs  from  generation  to  generation.  There 
was  but  one  other  possibility, — to  fight. 

Already  game  had  become  too  scarce  to  be  relied  upon  as 
the  only  source  of  food  supply,^ "*  and  all  the  Southern  Indians 
engaged  in  a  crude  method  of  agriculture.  They  dwelt  in 
villages  with  fields  adjacent,  and  maize,  beans,  and  melons 


JO  Ibid.,  466-469. 

17  statutes  at  Large,  II,  397. 

18  Indian  Office  files,  R.  J.  Meigs  to  Geo.  Graham,  May  6,  1817. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  TERRITORY  13 

were  the  principal  crops  which  they  cultivated.  Their  meth- 
ods of  culture  were  primitive  and  they  rarely  produced  more 
than  sufficed  for  their  own  needs. ^^^ 

The  more  the  natives  resorted  to  agriculture,  the  less  ground 
they  needed  for  the  purpose  of  hunting.  This  consideration 
may  partly  account  for  the  interest  which  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  took  in  the  civilization  of  the  Red  Man,  but 
such  interest  was  good  policy  on  general  principles,  for  a  civ- 
ilized Indian  afforded  a  less  pressing  problem  than  did  one 
in  his  native  simplicity. 

During  Washington's  administration  the  system  of  appoint- 
ing an  agent  to  each  of  the  different  tribes  was  adopted.  The 
agent  acted  as  intermediary  between  the  Government  and  the 
Indians ;  attempted  to  protect  them  from  corruption  by  super- 
vising their  relations  with  the  whites;  and  tried  to  promote 
their  civilization  by  instructing  them  in  agriculture  and  crafts- 
manship. The  Indians  were  not  allowed  to  buy  whisky  from 
the  whites  and  the  whites  were  not  allowed  to  live  among  them 
except  by  permission  from  the  agents.  Such  permits  were 
granted  to  blacksmiths,  carpenters,  wheelwrights,  and  other 
craftsmen  who  were  needed,  but  natives  were  instructed  in. 
the  crafts  and  sometimes  were  able  to  supply  a  large  part  of 
the  demand  for  skilled  workmen.20 

The  Indians  were  encouraged  by  the  agents  to  keep  domes- 
ticated animals  and  a  few  of  them  came  to  own  large  herds. 
They  were  also  instructed  in  the  use  of  the  plow  and  furn- 
ished with  seed  for  planting.  The  culture  of  cotton  was  in- 
troduced among  them,  and  they  were  taught  the  use  of  the 
spinning  wheel  and  the  loom.  Indeed,  some  of  the  native, 
craftsmen  learned  to  make  the  wheels  and  looms  and  turned" 
them  out  in  large  numbers. 

Of  all  the  Indians,  the  Cherokees  most  readily  took  to  the. 
ways  of  civilization.     Realizing  the  uselessness  of  resistance,, 
they  wished  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  inevitable,  and  throughi 
education  and  industry  to  fit  themselves  for  citizenship.  They 
took  up  agriculture  so  seriously  that  some  of  them  quit  their 
villages  for  the  purpose  of  living  upon  their  farms.     They 
kept  large  numbers  of  domesticated  animals,  and  learned  to 
spin  and  weave.     They  built  roads  and  erected  saw  mills  and 

1"  Good  accounts  are  given  in  Hawkins,  Sketch  of  the  Creek  Country; 
and  Morse,  Report  on  IncUnv  Affairs,  167  et  seq. 

20  Indian  Office  files,  R.J.  Meigs  to  Sect'y  of  War,  Nov.  4,  1816; 
Silas  Dinsmore  to  Jno.  McKee,  Oct.  28,  1815. 


14 


THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  TERRITORY  15 

cotton  gins.  Sequoya,  a  native  Cherokee,  invented  an  alpha- 
bet for  the  use  of  his  people  and  they  set  about  diligently  to 
learn  to  read  and  write.  They  even  drew  up  a  constitution 
and  instituted  a  representative  government. 21  A  census  of 
1825  shows  them,  with  a  population  of  fifteen  thousand,  to 
have  possessed  thirteen  hundred  slaves,  twenty-two  thousand 
cattle,  over  seven  hundred  looms,  more  than  two  thousand 
spinning  wheels,  nearly  three  thousand  plows,  ten  saw  mills, 
thirty-one  grist  mills,  eight  cotton  gins,  eighteen  ferries,  and 
eighteen  schools. 22 

The  Chickasaws  and  Choctaws,  though  somewhat  less  ad- 
vanced than  the  Cherokees,  followed  their  policy  of  absorbing 
what  civilization  they  could,  and  of  remaining  friendly  with 
the  whites.  The  Creeks,  on  the  contrary,  were  warlike  and 
not  inclined  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  situation.  The 
strength  of  their  confederacy  and  the  fact  that  their  lands 
bordered  upon  Spanish  Florida  may  help  to  explain  their  rel- 
atively independent  attitude. 

Just  before  the  War  of  1812  broke  out,  and  Tecumseh  un- 
dertook to  unite  all  the  western  Indians  against  the  United 
States,  he  visited  the  Creeks  at  one  of  their  great  councils, 
and  the  younger  warriors  were  incited  to  hostility  against  the 
whites.  Though  the  older  chiefs  remained  peaceful,  the  war 
or  red  stick  party  was  powerful  and  presently  took  matters  in- 
to its  own  hands.23 

Florida  was  still  legally  in  the  possession  of  Spain,  but  the 
Napoleonic  wars  had  so  shaken  the  position  of  the  ancient 
kingdom  that  her  government  had  fallen  prey  to  French  and 
British  armies.  The  future  possession  and  control  of  the 
province  became  doubtful  and  Madison,  fearful  for  our  south- 
ern frontier,  issued  a  proclamation  in  1810  calling  for  the  oc- 
cupation of  West  Florida.  It  was  at  that  time,  however,  tak- 
en over  only  as  far  as  Pearl  River.  Three  years  later  Mobile 
was  occupied,  but  Pensacola  remained  in  Spanish  hands. 
Thither  a  band  of  the  hostile  Creeks  repaired  in  1813  for  the 
purpose  of  securing  munitions  of  war.  The  settlers  upon  the 
Tombigbee,  learning  of  the  expedition,  mustered  their  mili- 
tary strength  and  marched  to  meet  the  Indians  as  they  return- 
ed.    In  the  battle  of  Burnt  Corn  which  followed,  the  whites 

21  Nineteenth  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Part  I, 
104-113. 

^2  Southern  Advocate,  April  21,  1826, 

s-J  McMaster,  History  of  the  United  States,  III,  535-6. 


16  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

drove  the  Indians  from  the  field,  but  while  the  victors  collect- 
ed the  booty,  the  Indians  rallied,  set  upon  them,  and  routed 
their  little  band.-* 

The  isolated  Tombigbee  settlers  recognized  this  skirmish  as 
the  prelude  to  a  bloody  Indian  war.  Seeing  no  prospect  of 
adequate  military  assistance,  they  hurriedly  gathered  at  con- 
venient houses,  surrounded  them  with  stockades,  and  anxious- 
ly awaited  the  movements  of  the  savage  warriors.  Several 
hundred  men  and  women  were  gathered  at  the  home  of  a  half- 
breed  named  Mims.  A  stockade  was  constructed  and  the 
place  came  to  be  known  as  Fort  Mims,  but  of  military  dis- 
cipline there  was  little  or  none.  Warned  of  the  presence  of  In- 
dians, they  took  no  heed,  and  when  the  savages  attacked,  were 
utterly  unprepared.  The  defense  was  desperate  but  hopeless ; 
and  when  the  day  was  over,  there  remained  but  the  smolder- 
ing i*uins  and  the  bodies  of  the  dead.  Of  all  that  had  been 
gathered  in  the  fort,  only  a  handful  escaped. 

Appeals  for  aid  were  quickly  sent  to  Georgia,  Louisiana, 
and  Tennessee;  and  Andrew  Jackson,  Major-General  of  the 
Tennessee  militia,  collected  a  force  for  an  expedition.  March- 
ing through  Huntsville,  and  crossing  the  Tennessee  River 
where  he  established  Fort  Deposit,  he  entered  the  country  of 
the  Creeks  and  established  Fort  Strother  upon  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Coosa.  Often  forced  to  the  last  extremity  by 
the  difficulty  of  getting  supplies  and  by  the  restiveness  of  mi- 
litia enlisted  for  short  terms  of  service,  Jackson  nevertheless 
cut  a  road  through  the  wilderness,  fought  several  minor  en- 
gagements with  the  savages,  and  finally  reached  their  prin- 
cipal stronghold  at  Horseshoe  Bend,  in  the  Tallapoosa  River. 
Here  the  Indians  had  erected  a  breastwork  across  the  neck  of 
the  peninsula  formed  by  the  bend  of  the  river.  Jackson  at- 
tacked this  work  in  front  while  his  lieutenant,  General  Coffee, 
approached  the  bend  from  the  other  side  of  the  stream.  Here 
the  Indians  had  collected  a  large  number  of  canoes  in  which 
to  make  their  escape  if  it  should  become  necessary ;  but  taking 
these.  Coffee  crossed  the  river  and  attacked  the  defenders 
from  the  rear.  Thus  trapped,  the  stubborn  resistance  of  the 
natives  was  ineffectual.  Some  escaped  across  the  river, 
others  were  drowned  while  attempting  to  get  away ;  and 
several  hundred  were  left  dead  upon  the  field.25 

i! 4  Henry  Adams,  History  of  U.  S.,  VII,  228-229;  Pickett,  History  of 
Alabama,  523-524. 

2S  McMaster,  History  of  the  United  States,  IX,  162-170.  Bassett,  J. 
S.,  Andrew  Jackson,  I,  91-92,  116-117. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  TERRITORY  17 

The  battle  of  Horseshoe  Bend  broke  the  power  of  the  hos- 
tile Creeks.  Many  were  dead,  and  others  fled  across  the 
Spanish  line  into  Florida.  In  1814  the  chiefs  who  remained 
met  Jackson  at  the  confluence  of  the  Coosa  and  Tallapoosa, 
where  Fort  Jackson  was  erected,  and  were  forced  to  surrender 
a  broad  strip  of  their  land  running  along  the  Florida  border, 
and  all  that  which  lay  west  of  the  Coosa  River.  Thus  prac- 
tically the  entire  Alabama-Tombigbee  basin  was  cleared  of 
the  Indian  title  and  secured  for  settlement  by  the  whites. 
Mississippi  Territory  was  indebted  to  Jackson  not  only  for 
safety,  but  also  for  room  in  which  to  grow. 

That  the  Southwest  was  to  become  a  cotton  kingdom  was 
foreshadowed  by  the  early  history  of  Madison  County.  When 
the  old  tobacco-growing  districts  of  the  Southern  seaboard 
began  to  overflow  into  the  piedmont  region,  a  number  of  Vir- 
ginia immigrants  established  the  town  of  Petersburg  where 
the  Broad  River  flows  into  the  Savannah,  in  Elbert  County, 
Georgia.  Here  tobacco  warehouses  vv^ere  erected  and  a  brisk 
business  ensued.  But  it  did  not  last  long.  When  the  in- 
vention of  the  cotton  gin  made  short  staple  cotton  available  for 
commercial  purposes,  this  crop  supplanted  tobacco  as  the  prin- 
cipal product  of  the  piedmont  region  in  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina.  Tobacco  warehouses  were  no  longer  necessary  and 
Petersburg  was  abandoned.-^'  Its  inhabitants  were  the  chief 
foun'ders  of  the  town  of  Huntsville.-"  In  the  small  triangle 
which  was  the  Madison  County  of  that  day,  nearly  a  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  acres  of  land  were  sold  between  1809  and 
1812. 

During  this  period  the  sales  of  land  in  the  Tombigbee  set- 
tlement were  relatively  small  excepting  that,  in  the  single  year 
1812,  sixty-four  thousand  acres  were  disposed  of  at  St.  Steph- 
ens. 

The  war  naturally  halted  the'  progress  of  the  westward 
movement,  but  with  the  coming  of  peace,  the  migration  was 
resumed  with  greatly  renewed  vigor.  The  Indians  were  no 
longer  to  be  feared,  a  vast  expanse  of  new  territory  had  been 
cleared  of  the  native  title,  cotton  was  in  great  demand,  and  a 
spirit  of  adventure  and  speculation  took  hold  upon  the  coun- 
try. In  1816  more  than  a  hundred  seventy  thousand  acres 
were  sold  at  St.  Stephens.^s 

20  C.  C.  Jones,  Jr.,  Dead  Towns  of  Georgia,  234-238. 

27  Betts,  History  of  Huntsville,  22-24. 

28  American   State  Papers,   Misc.,   II,  417. 


18  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

The  territory  secured  from  the  Creeks  had  to  be  surveyed 
before  it  could  be  placed  upon  the  market,  and  surveys  took 
time.  But  the  westward  rush  of  land-hungry  men  did  not 
wait  upon  the  Government.  Settlers  pushed  into  the  country 
in  great  numbers.  They  were  usually  poor  men  who  had  sold 
all  they  possessed  to  secure  the  necessary  means  of  transport- 
ation, and  at  the  end  of  the  journey  they  sometimes  found 
themselves  stranded  without  food  to  last  until  the  first  crop 
could  be  made.-"'  There  were  also  land  speculators  who  were 
engaged  in  seeking  out  choice  tracts  for  purchase  when  the 
Government  sales  should  begin;  there  were  merchants  who 
had  brought  wagon  loads  of  goods,  which  they  displayed  in 
hastily-erected  huts  to  the  settlers;  and  there  were  fugi- 
tives from  justice  seeking  refuge  in  a  country  where  the  hand 
of  the  law  was  weak. 

Crimes  were,  of  course,  committed  in  such  a  community  as 
this  ;3'»  and  to  make  the  situation  worse,  those  Creeks  who  had 
remained  friendly  to  the  United  States  during  the  war  felt, 
with  reason,  that  they  had  been  unjustly  treated  when  their 
lands  were  taken  away ;  and  they  threatened  to  give  trouble. ^i 
Since  no  civil  jurisdiction  was  established  in  the  region,  Gov- 
ernor Holmes,  of  Mississippi  Territory,  issued  a  proclamation 
on  June  29,  1815,  incorporating  the  whole  of  the  Creek  cession 
as  Monroe  County.^s 

This  action  was  not  in  accord  with  the  ideas  of  the  Govern- 
ment, for  an  act  of  1807  had  forbidden  intrusion  upon  the 
public  lands.  In  accordance  with  this  act.  President  Madison 
issued  a  proclamation  in  December,  1815,  ordering  the  remov- 
al of  squatters  and  authorizing  the  use  of  military  force  to  ac- 
complish that  purpose."'^  Some  ejections  were  made,  but  Con- 
gress heard  the  plea  of  the  squatters  and,  by  an  act  of  April 
26,  1816,  those  who  had  come  in  before  Feburary  of  that  year 
were  to  be  allowed  to  remain  until  the  land  upon  which  they 
were  settled  should  be  sold.^'* 

2ft  Indian  Office  files,  R.  J.  Meigs,  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Jan.  17,  1816; 
Jackson  Papers,  E.  P.  Gaines  to  Andrew  Jackson,  March  6,  1817. 

•""  Toulmin-Holmes  correspondence,  Gen.  E.  P.  Gaines  to  Judge  Har- 
ry Toulmin,  June  1,  1815;  Judge  Toulmin  to  Gov.  Holmes,  June  5,  1815. 

31  Washington  Republican,  Oct.  21,  1815. 

32  Gov.  Holmes,  Executive  Journal,  1814-1817;  Proclamation  of  June 
29,  1815. 

33  Washington  Republican,  Jan.  10,  1816;  Jackson  Papers,  Wm.  H. 
Crawford  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Jan.  27,  1816. 

3 » Ibid.,  June  12,  1816. 


THE  MISSISSIPPI  TERRITORY  19 

The  Creek  cession  overlapped,  on  the  north  and  west,  lands 
claimed  by  the  Choctaw,  Chickasaw,  and  Cherokee  Indians. 
The  Government  commissioned  Andrew  Jackson  to  treat  with 
these  tribes  for  their  claims  to  the  disputed  areas,  and  treaties 
providing  for  the  relinquishment  of  all  three  tracts  were 
drawn  up  in  1816.  This  cleared  up  the  Indian  title  to  the 
greater  part  of  that  territory  which  was  soon  to  become  the 
.State  of  Alabama.  The  Creeks  still  held  the  entire  tract  lying 
east  of  the  Coosa  River ;  the  Cherokees  held  the  northeastern 
corner  above  this;  the  Chickasaws  held  a  small  tract  in  the 
northwestern  corner;  and  the  Choctaws  retained  a  little  land 
Avest  of  the  Tombigbee.^^ 

On  May  9,  1817,  Governor  Holmes  issued  a  proclamation  cre- 
ating three  new  counties  which  included  the  new  cessions  and 
a  part  of  the  Creek  cession.  Elk  County  was  to  comprise  the 
land  lying  north  of  the  Tennessee  River  and  west  of  Madi- 
son County;  Blount  County  was  to  be  made  up  of  that  lying 
south  of  the  Tennessee  and  north  of  the  watershed  between 
that  river  and  the  Alabama-Tombigbee  basin;  and  Shelby 
County  was  to  comprise  the  country  lying  south  of  Blount 
County  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Tombigbee,  on  the  south 
by  Clarke  County,  and  on  the  east  by  the  watershed  between 
the  Tombigbee  and  Alabama  Rivers.^^  But  the  act  dividing 
the  Territory  had  already  passed  in  Congress,  and  these  three 
counties  never  had  a  concrete  existence.  An  Elk  County  is 
sometimes  enumerated  in  the  early  gazetteers,  and  a  Blount 
and  a  Shelby  County  were  established  in  Alabama  Territory  in 
1818,  but  they  have  no  continuity  with  those  established  by 
Governor  Holmes. 

33  See  Eighteenth  Annual  Report,  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  Plate  I. 
36  Gov.    David    Holmes,    Executive   Journal,    1814-1817,    Proclamation 
of  May  9,  1917. 


Chapter  II. 


THE  NEW  COUNTRY! 

The  new  country  which  was  soon  to  become  Alabama  is  di- 
vided, from  an  agricultural  point  of  view,  into  three  principal 
regions:  the  Tennessee  Valley,  the  Alabama-Tombigbee  bas- 
in, and  the  central  hilly  region  which  separates  these  two. 
Fed  by  streams  which  drain  the  country  as  far  north  as  the 
Tennessee  Valley,  the  Alabama  and  Tombigbee  Rivers  traverse 
the  central  and  southwestern  portions  of  the  area,  and  empty 
their  united  waters  into  Mobile  Bay.  In  the  early  days  of 
Alabama,  these  streams  furnished  the  only  good  commercial 
highway  into  the  State.  They  bound  her  southern  section  into 
one  cotton-growing  community,  and  their  fertile  bottom  lands 
furnished  most  desirable  fields  for  the  planter  of  the  staple. 

The  central  hilly  region  is  drained  by  southward-flowing 
streams  which  are  not  navigable ;  and  the  inaccessibility  of  the 
region,  together  with  the  rugged  nature  of  the  land,  prevented 
it  from  attaining  agricultural  importance.  Yet  the  isolated 
valleys  were  often  fertile,  and  a  scattered  population  main- 
tained frontier  conditions  here  for  a  long  time. 

Making  a  large  bend  across  the  northern  end  of  Alabama, 
the  Tennessee  River  flows  through  a  wide  and  fertile  valley. 
During  the  early  days  the  produce  of  this  region  had  to  be 
floated  down  the  long  and  tortuous  courses  of  the  Tennessee 
and  Mississippi  Rivers  to  New  Orleans,  but  the  soil  was  fertile 
and  attracted,  from  the  very  first,  planters  in  large  numbers. 

Looked  at  more  in  detail,  the  surface  of  Alabama  is  divided 
Into  several  areas  differing  in  formation  and  fertility  of  soil.^ 
Entering  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  State  with  the  Ten- 
nessee River  and  running  down  toward  the  center,  is  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  Cumberland  Plateau.  Here  the 
ridges  run  in  long  sweeps  and  give  a  really  mountainous  as- 
pect to  the  region.     Lookout  Mountain  is  the  most  pronounced 

1  The  description  given  here  is  based  almost  entirely  upon  that  by 
Roland  M.  Harper  in  A  Preliminary  Soil  Census  of  Alabavia  and  in  his 
Economic  Botany  of  Ahbama.  though  the  writer  has  relied  to  some  ex- 
tent upon  his  personal  knowledge  of  the  country. 

-'  In  addition  to  the  map  given  here,  see  that  by  Eugene  A.  Smith,  U. 
S.  Census,  1880,  VI.  9;  and  that  in  the  Atlas  of  American  Agriculture,, 
cotton  section,  8. 


THE  NEW  COUNTRY  21 

of  the  highlands.  South  of  the  Tennessee  Valley  the  ridges 
give  way  to  the  broken  hills  of  the  north-central  portion  of 
the  State, 

Skirting  the  plateau  to  the  eastward  and  running  parallel 
with  it,  lies  the  Coosa  Valley,  which  represents  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  great  valley  extending  from  Virginia.  There 
are  stretches  of  good  land  here,  but  the  early  communities 
were  isolated  and  it  did  not  become  a  region  of  extensive  ag- 
riculture. 

Toward  the  eastward,  the  Coosa  Valley  is  bordered  by  the 
southern  foothills  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and,  forming  a  triangle 
between  the  Ridge  and  the  Georgia  line,  lies  the  piedmont  sec- 
tion which  corresponds  to  that  skirting  the  mountains  in  Geor- 
gia, the  Carolinas,  and  Virginia.  As  in  the  piedmont  regions 
of  the  older  states,  the  stiff,  red  lands  here  are  of  unequal 
quality  but  capable  of  improvement  and  of  fair  average  fertil- 
ity. Until  1836  the  Creek  Indians  retained  possession  of  the 
country  east  of  the  Coosa  River ;  consequently  this  section  was 
not  settled  as  early  as  most  of  the  other  parts  of  the  State. 

Beginning  at  the  eastern  border  just  below  the  piedmont 
section  and  sweeping  across  to  the  northwest  corner  of  Ala- 
bama in  a  broadening  curve,  the  short  leaf  pine  belt  borders 
the  older  country  of  igneous  rock,  and  marks  the  beginning 
of  the  coastal  plain.  Here  the  soil  is  composed  largely  of 
sand  and  gravel.  It  is  below;  the  average  in  fertility,  rolling 
piney  woods  being  characteristic  of  the  region. 

Next  toward  the  south  is  the  Black  Belt,^  or  prairie  region, 
which  begins  within  the  State  and  follows  the  curve  of  the 
short  leaf  pine  region.  It  presents  a  gently  rolling  terraine, 
much  more  level  than  any  of  the  surrounding  country,  and  al- 
so somewhat  more  depressed.  These  peculiarities  are  due, 
perhaps,  like  the  quality  of  the  soil,  to  the  soft  limestone  which 
underlies  it.  The  soil  is  a  sticky,  calcareous  clay,  and  a  part 
of  it  was  originally  unforested.  Holding  surface  moisture 
in  the  winter,  it  forms  a  tenacious  mud  which  renders  roads 
all  but  impassable,  and  in  the  summer  it  bakes  to  a  hard  crust. 
A  description  of  this  region  given  by  one  of  the  early  settlers 
in  1821  affords  a  graphic  idea  of  the  appearance  of  the  coun- 
try: 

"Wherever  these  prairies  exist,  the  lime  is  this  soft  con- 
sistence, when  it  approaches  near  the  surface,  the  soil  ap- 
pears whitish,  and  is  clothed  with  a  short  growth  of  grass 

3  See  H.  F.  Cleland  in  Geographical  Review,  X,  375-387. 


22  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

and  herbage ;  where  it  lies  deeper  the  grass  is  denser  and  tall- 
er, and  upon  the  borders,  between  the  wood  land  and  prairies, 
the  growth  of  weeds  and  grass  is  very  luxuriant.  But  upon 
the  prairies  themselves,  there  is  not  sufficient  depth  of  earth 
for  the  growth  of  trees.  Such  is  the  checkered  and  diversified 
appearance  of  this  part  of  the  country  where  those  prairies 
exist.  Fancy  yourself  for  a  moment  in  such  a  situation ;  be- 
fore you  a  wide  and  extended  meadow,  to  the  right  and  left 
intervening  strips  of  oaks  and  pines;  proceeding  onwards, 
the  prospect  seems  terminated  by  the  surrounding  woods; 
anon,  you  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  opening  vista ;  and  now  again 
the  prospect  expands  into  the  wide  spread  horizon  of  an  ex- 
tensive prairie.  These  prairies  are  generally  rolling;  which 
is  a  great  advantage,  as  otherwise  they  retain  water,  to  the 
great  injury  of  the  crops;  and  as  it  respects  the  quality  of  the 
soil,  it  is  generally  admitted  that  it  is  the  best  the  country 

affords The  only  objection  to  these  prairies  is,  the 

scarcity  of  good  water "^ 

The  relative  scarcity  of  running  water,  together  with  other 
disadvantages,  affords  special  problems  to  the  farmer,  and 
the  towns  which  grew  up  in  connection  with  the  cotton  indus- 
try here — Montgomery,  Selma,  and  others — are  located  on  the 
edge  of  the  prairie  rather  than  within  it.  Though  the  plant- 
ers at  first  sought  the  river  bottoms  and  avoided  the  prairie, 
the  latter  came  after  1830  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  best  cot- 
ton land  in  the  State.  As  late  as  1880  it  formed  the  principal 
cotton  producing  area  of  Alabama. 

Montgomery  County  has  always  been  a  cotton-planting  cen- 
ter, and  its  early  history  is  illustrative  of  such  settlements.  Al- 
most the  entire  area  of  the  County  consists  of  fine  prairie 
lands  which  extend  in  long,  unbroken  stretches  of  fertile  fields. 
But  the  Alabama  River,  which  forms  its  northern  boundary, 
is  bordered  by  bottom  land  which  is  not  of  the  prairie  type. 
A  map  of  the  County,  made  up  from  the  land  records  and 
showing  the  dates  at  which  the  tracts  were  purchased  from 
the  Government,  brings  out  the  fact  that  the  great  majority 
of  the  settlements  before  1821  were  made  in  the  river  bottom 
area.  By  1828  encroachments  were  being  made  upon  the  prai- 
rie, but  the  greater  part  of  it  was  still  unsettled.  On  the  oth- 
er hand,  in  Clarke  County,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Alabama 
and  Tombigbee  Rivers,  there  were  extensive  settlements  be- 

*  Letter  from  Dr.  J.  W.  Heustis,  of  Cahawba,  April  1,  1821,  Cahawba 
Press,  June  2,  1821. 


THE  NEW  COUNTRY  23 

fore  1821,  though  very  few  between  that  year  and  1828.  In 
Dallas  and  Perry  Counties  where  there  is  both  river  and  prai- 
rie land,  the  river  bottoms  and  the  red  lands  bordering  the 
prairies  were  taken  up,  but  few  settlements  were  made  in  the 
prairies  before  the  end  of  1828. ^ 

The  Black  Belt  is  bordered  on  the  south  by  the  Chunnen- 
nuggee  Ridge,  This  runs  across  the  State  in  a  narrow  strip, 
but  toward  the  eastern  border  where  the  Black  Belt  dwindles 
away,  the  Ridge  broadens  and  replaces  it.  A  limestone  for- 
mation underlies  this  section,  but  it  is  different  from  that  of 
the  prairie  region  in  being  of  normal  hardness.  This  accounts 
for  the  fact  that  the  Ridge  country  rises  distinctly  above  the 
prairie,  and  that  its  surface  is  of  a  relatively  rugged  charac- 
ter. The  soil  is  predominantly  a  sandy  loam  and  is,  like  that 
of  the  Black  Belt,  above  the  average  in  fertility.  Looked  at 
from  the  standpoint  of  cotton  culture,  the  two  regions  might 
be  grouped  together. 

Below  the  Chunnennuggee  Ridge  and  extending  to  the 
southern  border  of  the  state,  lie  the  Southern  Red  Hill"  and 
Southern  Pine  Hill  regions.  Between  these  lie  two  small  cal- 
careous areas,  but  there  are  no  marked  transitions  in  the  sur- 
face here.  The  appearance  of  the  country  and  the  nature  of 
the  soil  are  fairly  uniform,  so  that  from  an  agricultural  stand- 
point, these  areas  might  be  considered  together. 

In  the  region  of  the  Red  Hills  the  surface  is  broken  and  ris- 
es almost  to  mountainous  ruggedness  in  places.  One  of  the 
two  railroad  tunnels  in  the  whole  coastal  plain  lies  in  this  sec- 
tion. Pine  predominates  over  other  forest  trees,  and  the  soil 
is  reddish  sandy  clay.  Its  fertility  is  only  average,  but  fer- 
tilizers can  be  used  to  advantage. 

Proceeding  toward  the  coast,  the  hills  become  less  pro- 
nounced and  the  long  leaf  pine  predorriinates  over  all  other 
trees.  The  character  of  the  soil  does  not  change  materially; 
it  is  relatively  infertile,  but  subject  to  improvement  by  arti- 
ficial fertilization. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  the  Gulf  coastal  plain  there  is 
nothing  corresponding  to  the  pine  barrens  of  the  South  At- 
lantic States.  The  reddish  sandy  clay  prevails  all  the 
way  to  the  coast,  and  the  surface  presents  a  rolling,  and  often 
a  rugged,  appearance. 

5  Based  upon  maps  made  from  the  tract  books  in  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  Montgomery,  Alabama. 

«  See  R.  M.  Harper  in  South  Atlantic  Quarterly,  XIX,  201. 


Chapter  III 


THE  IMMIGRANTS* 

During  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  England 
was  developing  the  spinning  and  weaving  machinery  which 
played  such  a  large  part  in  bringing  about  the  Industrial  Rev- 
olution. The  increased  demand  for  raw  cotton  which  resulted 
from  this  development  was  answered  in  1793  by  Whitney's  in- 
vention of  the  cotton  gin.  Until  this  time,  it  was  necessary 
to  separate  the  lint  from  the  seed  by  hand  or  by  means  of  a 
pair  of  simple  rollers.  The  black  seeded  sea-island,  or  long 
staple,  cotton  was  the  only  variety  amenable  to  such  process- 
es, for  its  long  fibre  did  not  cling  closely  to  the  seed  and  could 
be  removed  easily.  The  short  staple  of  the"  green  seeded  va- 
riety clung  so  closely  to  the  seed  that  it  could  not  be  removed 
profitably  by  these  simple  processes  in  use. 

Long  staple  cotton  could  be  raised  only  in  the  tidewater  re- 
gions, and  the  coast  and  sea-islands  of  Georgia  and  South  Car- 
olina produced  practically  all  the  American  output.  •  The  short 
staple  cotton,  on  the  other  hand,  could  be  raised  in  the  uplands, 
and  when  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  rendered  the  culture 
of  this  variety  profitable,  the  Georgia  and  South  Carolina 
piedmont  supplanted  the  tidewater  as  the  principal  cotton- 
producing  area.i 

This  region  had  been  settled  by  men  largely  from  Virginia 
and  Pennsylvania.  The  culture  of  tobacco  was  the  main  in- 
dustry for  some  years,  but  when  upland  cotton  was  introduced 
it  quickly  came  to  predominate.  Towns  founded  for  the  ware- 
housing and  inspection  of  tobacco  were  abandoned  because 
their  facilities  were  no  longer  necessary.^  Such  a  one  was  Pe- 
tersburg, at  the  confluence  of  the  Broad  with  the  Savannah 
River,  the  removal  of  whose  inhabitants  to  Madison  County 
was  mentioned  in  the  first  chapter. 

That  the  spread  of  the  culture  of  cotton  into  the  Southwest 
was  inevitable,  is  indicated  by  its  early  introduction  into  Miss- 
issippi Territory.  This  natural  movement  was  interrupted  by 
the  War  of  1812,  but  its  pent-up  force  was  precipitated  by  the 

1  Atlas  of  American  Agriculture,  cotton  section,  16,  18. 

2  Phillips,  Transportation  in  the  Eastern  Cotton  Belt,  46-56. 


THE  IMMIGRANTS  25 

conditions  which  followed  the  end  of  the  struggle.  In  Eng- 
land, cut  off  from  her  source  of  supply  during  the  War,  the 
price  of  the  staple  rose  to  an  abnormal  level ;  while  in  America, 
deprived  of  her  usual  market,  the  price  fell  off  sharply.  When 
peace  was  made  and  normal  trade  relations  were  resumed  with 
the  lifting  of  the  blockade  of  our  coast,  England  again  obtain- 
ed her  supply  of  American  cotton  and  the  price  in  this  country 
rose  immediately.  The  average  price  for  1815  was  almost 
thirty  cents  a  pound. ^ 

To  this  situation  was  added  the  inducement  of  new  lands 
cleared  of  the  Indian  title  during  the  War,  and  the  innate  rest- 
lessness of  the  population.  Sales  of  newly  surveyed  land  were 
opened  at  St.  Stephens  during  the  latter  part  of  1815,  and  the 
following  year  over  a  hundred  thousand  acres  were  disposed 
of  by  the  Government.'*  No  sales  were  made  in  the  new  Creek 
cession  until  1817,  but  in  that  year  three-quarters  of  a  million 
dollars'  worth  of  these  lands  were  sold.^ 

The  old  Georgia-South  Carolina  piedmont  region  had  two 
distinct  disadvantages  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  cotton 
planter.  Its  soil  was  not  considered  so  fertile  as  that  of  the 
Alabama  river-bottoms  and  prairies ;  and  it  lacked  transporta- 
tion facilities,  being  cut  off  from  the  tidewater  by  the  broad 
pine-barrens,  and  being  without  navigable  rivers.  Thus,  be- 
fore the  culture  of  upland  cotton  had  reached  anything  like  a 
mature  development  here,  it  began  t,o  be  transferred  to  the  new 
Southwest.  Population  began  to  flow  from  the  older  states 
into  the  pioneer  country  until  the  drain  was  keenly  felt  in  the 
deserted  communities. 

Though  the  statement  cannot  be  backed  by  statistics,  it 
seems  that  the  majority  of  the  planters  who  moved  westward 
with  their  slaves  came  from  the  piedmont  rather  than  from 
the  tidewater  regions  of  the  South  Atlantic  states.*^  The  tide- 
water had  its  staple  crops  of  tobacco,  rice,  and  sea-island  cot- 
ton, which  were  not  disturbed  by  the  new  developments.  The 
planters  here  were  usually  well  established,  their  investment 
was  heavy,  and  their  land  had  a  certain  monoply  value.  Their 
slaves  could  still  be  employed  more  or  less  profitably,  and  their 
social  position  tended  to  hold  them  where    they    were.     The 

3  Atlas  of  American  Agriculture,  cotton  section,  18. 
•t  American  State  Papers,  Misc.,  II,  417. 
5  Ibid.,  Lands,  V,  384-385. 

8  This  statement  is  strongly  supported  by  the  cases  where  the  writer 
has  been  able  to  ascertain  the  origin  of  the  immigrants. 


26  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

piedmont  region  had  never  had  a  staple  until  upland  cotton 
was  introduced,  and  the  west  offered  it  a  choicer  field. 

Few  people  of  extensive  wealth  moved  into  the  Alabama  re- 
gion during  the  period  of  early  settlement.  Only  the  man 
who  needed  to  better  his  fortune  had  an  inducement  to  make 
the  necessary  sacrifice.  Those  who  had  slaves  usually  owned 
but  a  small  number,  and  many  who  later  became  planters  had 
no  slaves  at  all  to  begin  with.  In  other  words,  the  small  farm- 
er of  the  piedmont  region  became  the  pioneer  planter  of  the 
Southwest. 

When  a  man  prepared  to  transplant  his  establishment,  he 
usually  sold  the  land  he  held  and  retained  the  proceeds  for  the 
purchase  of  his  new  domain.  His  household  goods  and  farm 
implements  were  packed  on  wagons  and  started  out  on  the 
rough  road  toward  the  new  home.  The  slaves  drove  the  herds 
of  cattle  and  hogs,  while  the  planter's  family  brought  up  the 
rear  in  a  carriage."  It  was  a  tedious  journey,  the  roads  being 
merely  clearings  through  the  forest,  and  without  bridges.  The 
smaller  streams  were  forded  and  crude  ferries  were  establish- 
ed at  the  larger  ones.  Yet  there  were  compensations ;  hunting 
along  the  way  afforded  diversions  for  the  men,  and  the  camp- 
fire  about  which  the  wayfarers  gathered  at  night  shed  a  ro- 
mantic glow  upon  the  faces  of  those  who  were  traveling  into 
a  strange  land. 

Having  reached  the  place  where  he  was  to  make  his  home, 
the  planter  constructed  a  log  cabin  after  the  usual  manner. 
Two  rooms  were  built  opposite  each  other  and  joined  by  a  pas- 
sage-way. Chimneys  built  of  stones  or  clay-daubed  sticks 
were  put  up  at  opposite  ends  of  the  structure  and  great  open 
hearths  served  for  both  heating  and  cooking.  A  "lean-to" 
might  be  attached  behind  one  or  both  of  the  rooms,  and  an  at- 
tic might  be  constructed  above.  Before  the  introduction  of 
saw  mills,  the  floors  were  made  of  puncheons,  or  logs  split  in 
halves,  with  the  flat  side  upward.  The  chinks  between  the 
logs  were  filled  with  clay ;  the  doors  and  shutters  were  of  crude 
boards,  and  the  shingles  were  hand-split.  In  such  a  dwelling, 
the  planter  who  brought  his  household  furnishings  could  es- 
tablish a  kind  of  rude  comfort,  which  sufficed  even  the  wealth- 
iest immigrants  during  the  first  few  years  of  their  sojourn. 
The  first  and  only  governor  of  Alabama  Territory  lived  in 

7  Hodgson,  Letters  from  North  America,  I,  138. 


THE  IMMIGRANTS  27 

such  a  log  cabin  during  the  years  of  his  administration  and 
until  his  premature  death. ^ 

But  all  the  newcomers  were  not  even  thus  fortunately  sit- 
uated. No  very  extensive  tracts  of  the  new  land  were  offered 
for  sale  before  1818,  and  men  who  had  homes  to  sell  in  the  old 
states  would  naturally  wish  to  purchase  a  location  in  the  new 
country  before  removing.  Yet,  from  1815  onward,  men  poured 
into  the  ceded  lands  and  "squatted"  upon  them  in  spite  of  the 
law  and  the  Government."  It  was  the  policy  of  the  United 
States  to  prevent  intrusion  until  surveys  could  be  made  and 
the  lands  offered  for  sale  at  auction.  Attempts  were  made  to 
remove  the  squatters;  the  troops  were  called  in  and  ordered 
to  burn  the  cabins  of  those  who  refused  to  leave,  but  it  was  all 
of  no  avail.^o 

Men  of  this  class,  being  improvident  by  nature,  did  not  come 
to  seek  wealth,  but  merely  to  gain  a  subsistence,  or  to  enjoy 
the  freedom  of  the  woods.  They  built  their  simple  cabins  and 
planted  their  crops  of  corn  between  trees  which  they  killed  by 
circling.  Their  greatest  immediate  problem  was  to  live  until 
the  first  crop  was  made,  and  here  there  was  much  difficulty.^! 

The  influx  of  immigrants  was  so  great  in  1816  and  1817 
that  the  Indians  and  scattered  pioneers  were  not  able  to  furn- 
ish enough  corn  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  new-comers.  In  1816 
corn  brought  four  dollars  a  bushel  along  the  highway  from 
Huntsville  to  Tuscaloosa,' ^  and  so  scarce  did  this  article  be- 
come among  the  local  Indians  that  the  Government  had  to  come 
to  their  rescue  in  1817  in  order  to  relieve  actual  distress. ^^ 

It  is  worth  our  while  to  know  whence  the  various  immi- 
grants came  into  the  Alabama  country;  by  what  routes  they 
reached  their  destination;  and  in  what  part  of  the  territory 
they  settled.  Although  statistics  cannot  be  produced,  a  fairly 
reliable  idea  may  be  had  from  various  accounts  which,  in  the 
main,  agree. 

8  Pickett  Papers,  Sketch  of  Wm.  Bibb,  by  John  D.  Bibb. 

9  Indian  Office  files,  R.  J.  Meigs  to  Louis  Winston,  June  12,  1815. 

I''  Jackson  Papers,  Instructions  from  Wm.  H.  Crawford,  Jan.  27,  1816 j 
Indian  Office  files,  A.  Jackson  to  Wm.  H.  Crawford,  July  4,  1816;  Ibid., 
R.  J.  Meigs  to  Louis  Winston,  June  12,  1815. 

11  An  interesting  letter  from  Clabon  Harris  to  General  Jackson,  Fort 
Claiborne,  Jan.  12,  1816,  gives  an  account  of  the  conditions  of  some  of 
the  squatters.     This  is  in  the  Jackson  Papers. 

12  Meek  MS.,  Early  Settlement  of  Alabama. 

If  Indian  Office  files,  Cherokee  Chiefs  to  R.  J.  Meigs,  March  20,  1817; 
Ibid.,  Samuel  Riley  to  R.  J.  Meigs;  Jackson  Papers,  E.  P.  Gaines  to  A. 
Jackson,  March  6,  1817. 


THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 


THE  IMMIGRANTS  29 

The  two  roads  through  Misissippi  Territory  for  which  Con- 
igress  made  appropriations  in  1806  were  continuations  of  es- 
tablished routes  of  travels  ^  That  from  Nashville  to  Natchez 
crossed  the  Tennessee  River  at  Muscle  Shoals  and  was  known 
as  the  "Natchez  Trace."  It  was  a  continuation  of  the  "Ken- 
tucky Trace"  which  passed  from  Nashville  through  Lexington, 
to  Maysville,  and  thence  by  the  Old  National  Road  through  Co- 
lumbus, Zanesville,  and  Wheeling,  then  on  to  Pittsburgh.  Fol- 
lowing the  general  course  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Natchez  Trace 
was  the  principal  highway  for  the  region  which  it  traversed. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  it  was  hardly  more  than  a  bridle 
path  through  the  woods  and  did  not  deserve  to  be  called  a  road. 

The  highway  along  the  route  from  Athens  to  New  Orleans 
which  followed  the  direction  of  the  Alabama  River  and  passed 
through  the  Tombigbee  settlements,  came  to  be  known  as  the 
"Federal  Road."^^  Beyond  Athens,  the  route  passed  north- 
eastward through  Greenville,  Salisbury,  Charlotte,  and  Fred- 
ericksburg, then  on  to  Washington,  Baltimore,  and  Philadel- 
phia. Thus  it  traversed  the  piedmont  region  of  the  South  At- 
lantic states  and  connected  the  Southwest  with  the  commercial 
centers  of  the  East. 

Diverging  from  this  route  just  beyond  the  Georgia  line,  an- 
other highway  passed  eastward  of  it  and  connected  the  South- 
ern capitals  which  stood  at  the  fall  line  of  the  rivers  flowing 
into  the  Atlantic.  Extending  through  Milledgeville,  Augusta, 
Columbia,  Raleigh,  and  Richmond,  this  again  united  with  the 
piedmont  route  just  before  reaching  Washington. 

But  there  was  still  another  means  of  access  to  the  Alabama 
country  which  was  of  great  importance.  Diverging  from  the 
Pittsburgh-Philadelphia  highway,  this  road  passed  southwest- 
ward  through  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  then  followed  the  course 
of  the  Holston  river  to  Knoxville.  From  Knoxville  the  orig- 
inal highway  passed  westward  to  Nashville,  but  with  the 
formation  of  Madison  County,  a  spur  was  extended  southward 
to  Huntsville,  and  this  soon  came  to  be  an  important  route  of 
travel. 

14  The  map  given  here  is  based  upon  that  prepared  by  John  Melish 
for  1818,  but  it  has  been  compared  with  all  those  in  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress for  the  period  covered.  Inf^rmati'^n  ns  to  principal  routes  of 
communication  is  based  also  upon  the  accounts  of  travel  available  to 
the  writer. 

13  It  seems  that  this  road  was  not  actually  opened  until  1811.  See 
Phillips,  Transportation  in  the  Eastern  Cotton  Belt,  69;  and  Ball,  Clarke 
County,  134. 


30  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

Now,  a  man  coming  into  Alabama  from  the  piedmont  region 
of  Georgia  would  have  the  choice  of  two  routes.  He  could  go 
by  the  Federal  Road  into  the  Alabama-Tombigbee  basin  or  he 
could  take  a  road  which  passed  from  Augusta  to  Athens,  cross- 
ed the  Tennessee  River  where  Chattanooga  now  stands,  and  led 
on  to  Nashville.'"  The  highway  crossed  the  road  from  Knox- 
ville  to  Huntsville  and  gave  access  to  the  fertile  Tennessee  Val- 
ley region.  The  Georgia  men  who  helped  to  settle  Madison 
County  in  1809  took  this  route.'"  but  the  later  emigration  of 
Georgia  planters  was  mostly  into  the  southern  part  of  Ala- 
bama, and  they  passed  along  the  Federal  Road. 

The  first  lands  of  the  Creek  cession  which  were  put  on  sale 
were  disposed  of  at  Milledgeville,  Georgia,  and  they  lay  along 
the  upper  course  of  the  Alabama  River  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  later  Montgomery  County.'^  It  is  easy  to  understand,^ 
therefore,  how  it  was  that  the  Georgia  planters  established  a 
predominance  in  this  region  from  the  first.  With  this  as  a 
nucleus,  the  immigrants  from  Georgia  seem  to  have  followed 
the  route  of  the  Federal  Road  and  they  came  to  form  perhaps, 
the  strongest  element  in  the  population  of  all  the  southeastern 
counties  of  Alabama.'^ 

Men  from  the  piedmont  region  of  South  Carolina  also  had 
two  routes  open  to  them.  They  could  take  the  fall-line  road 
through  Columbia  or  the  piedmont  road  through  Greenville 
and  reach  the  Alabama  basin  by  the  Federal  Road.  But  if 
they  wished  to  reach  the  Tennessee  Valley,  they  could  pass 
northward  from  Greenville,  through  Saluda  Gap  in  the  Blue 
Ridge  where  it  borders  North  and  South  Carolina,  then  to  the 
site  of  Asheville,  and  along  the  course  of  the  French  Broad  to 
Knoxville,  and  thence  to  Huntsville.^o  Immigrants  came  by 
both  of  these  routes,  and,  appearing  to  have  avoided  the  settle- 
ments of  those  who  preceded  them  in  the  Tennessee  Valley  and 
in  the  Alabama  River  basin,  the  majority  of  them  passed  on 
from  both  directions  into  the  central  hilly  region  or  the  basin 
of  the  Black  Warrior  and  upper  Tombigbee  Rivers. 

i«  Phillips,  Transportation  in  the  Eastern  Cotton  Belt,,  68-69. 
1"  Betts,  History  of  Huntsville,  21. 

18  Land  Office,  Record  of  Proclamations,  May  24,  1807. 

19  The  account  given  here  of  the  distribution  of  population  in  Ala- 
bama agrees,  in  general,  with  the  available  statements  concerning  dif- 
ferent Ipcalities ;  and  with  the  general  statements  to  be  found  in  Garrett's 
Reminiscences,  35;  and  in  the  Meek  MS.  on  the  Early  Settlement  of  Ala^ 
bama.  See  also  Hamilton,  Colonial  Mobile,  456-457;  and  Smith,  Pick- 
ens County,  37-39. 

20  Phillips,  Transportation  in  the  Eastern  Cotton  Belt,  63. 


THE  IMMIGRANTS  31 

Men  coming  from  North  Carolina  could  have  taken  the  route 
along  the  French  Broad  to  Knoxville,  and  thence  to  Huntsville, 
but  since  this  road  traversed  only  the  mountainous  western  re- 
gion of  the  State,  it  is  probable  that  most  of  the  immigrants 
from  North  Carolina  found  the  highway  from  Raleigh  through 
Columbus  and  Augusta  to  the  Federal  Road  more  convenient. 
These  men,  like  those  from  South  Carolina,  found  the  central 
region  of  Alabama  most  attractive. 

The  Virginians  who  came  from  the  Valley  followed  their 
highway  through  Cumberland  Gap  and  down  the  Holston  to 
Knoxville,  thence  gaining  access  to  the  Tennessee  Valley. 
Some  of  these  passed  on  down  to  the  Black  Warrior  and  Tom- 
bigbee  Valleys.  For  Virginians  from  the  piedmont  region,  it 
was  more  convenient  to  take  one  of  the  eastern  roads  leading 
to  southern  Alabama,  whence  they  could  make  their  way  into 
the  Tombigbee- Warrior  region  if  they  so  desired. 

Of  course  the  Tennessee  Valley  was  most  easily  accessible  to 
the  men  just  over  the  line,  and  consequently  Tennesseeans  had 
a  predominance  in  this  section.  Some  bought  lands  in  the 
Valley,  while  others  passed  beyond  into  the  hilly  region  and  be- 
came squatters  upon  the  National  domain,  for  the  lands  in  the 
valley  were  put  upon  the  market  principally  in  1818,  but  those 
south  of  it  were  not  sold  for  several  years  afterward.  Here 
back-woods  communities  were  established  in  the  isolated  val- 
leys, and  frontier  conditions  of  life  prevailed  for  a  long  time. 

The  principal  route  of  travel  connecting  the  Tennessee  Val- 
ley with  the  Alabama-Tombigbee  region  was  a  road  passing 
southwestward  from  Huntsville  through  Jones  Valley  to  the 
town  of  Tuscaloosa,  which  grew  up  at  the  head  of  boat  naviga- 
tion upon  the  Black  Warrior.  It  was  along  this  route  that  the 
principal  settlements  were  made  in  the  central  hilly  region. 
At  first  the  Tennesseeans  predominated  here,  but  South  Caro- 
linians soon  came  in  so  numerously  as  to  outnumber  the  Ten- 
nesseeans in  some  localities.  The  struggle  for  suprem- 
acy between  these  elements  in  Blount  and  Jefferson  Counties 
provoked  open  hostilities  before  it  was  settled.  Finally,  the 
Tennesseeans  came  to  predominate  in  Blount,  while  the  South 
Carolinians  had  the  majority  in  Jefferson  County.^^ 

As  in  this  case,  most  communities  had  their  local  color,  and 
the  state  whence  one  came  was  always  a  matter  of  signifi- 

21  Meek  MS.  Early  Settlement  of  Alabama;  Powell,  History  of  Blount 
County,  37. 


32  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

cance.  In  the  Tombigbee-Warrior  region,  North  Carolinians, 
South  Carolinians,  and  Virginians  mingled  in  varying  propor- 
tions, but  together  formed  a  predominating  population-ele- 
ment which  had  its  own  characteristics.  As  late  as  1856, 
Greene  County,  at  the  conjunction  of  the  Black  Warrior  with 
the  Tombigbee,  had  a  population  of  438  native  South  Carolin- 
ians, 357  Alabamians,  348  North  Carolinians,  92  Georgians, 
45  Tennesseeans,  24  Kentuckians,  12  men  from  Connecticut, 
37  from  Ireland,  and  10  from  Germany.22 

The  presence  of  a  small  number  of  foreigners  is  character- 
istic of  the  early  period,  and  so  is  the  presence  of  New  Eng- 
landers.  The  cosmopolitan  population  was  confined  to  the 
trading  towns  where  the  merchants  were  largely  Yankees.^^ 
This  was  especially  true  of  Mobile,  where  the  transient  popula- 
tion was  turbulent  and  varied.  A  community  of  Germans  was 
established  at  Dutch  Bend  on  the  Alabama  River  ;2^  and  De- 
mopolis,  on  the  Tombigbee,  was  founded  by  a  band  of  Napol- 
eonic refugees.  However,  such  segregated  community-build- 
ing was  not  characteristic. 

Finally,  in  spite  of  the  mixture  which  was  produced  by  the 
flow  of  immigration  into  Alabama,  three  areas  can  be  distin- 
guished which  show  peculiarities  due  partly  to  the  predomi- 
nant element  in  the  population.  In  the  Tennessee  Valley  the 
preponderance  of  Tennesseeans  gave  a  strongly  democratic 
flavor  to  political  ideas ;  in  the  Tombigbee-Warrior  region,  the 
Carolina-Virginia  predominance  seems  to  be  indicated  by  a 
flavor  of  conservatism  in  things  political;  while  the  influence 
of  Georgia  politics  is  clearly  discernible  in  Montgomery  Coun- 
ty. However,  there  are  other  factors  which  played  a  more  im- 
portant part  in  shaping  opinions  and  politics  than  did  the  orig- 
in of  the  population,  the  effect  of  which,  indeed,  is  often  en- 
tirely obliterated. 

22  Snedecor,  Directory  of  Greene  County,  1856. 

23  Alabama  Republican,  Aug.  15,  1823,  Extract  of  a  letter  to  the  Ed- 
itor of  the  Newburyport  (Mass.)  Herald,  dated  Claiborne  (A),  March, 
1823;  Jackson  Papers,  Col.  Will  King  to  A.  Jackson,  Nov.  23,  1821. 

2-*  Blue  MS.,  I,  Autauga  County,  4. 


Chapter  IV. 


THE  DIVISION  OF  THE  TERRITORY 

The  question  of  the  division  of  the  Territory  came  up  as  ear- 
ly as  1803,  for  in  that  year  the  Tombigbee  settlers  sent  a  pe- 
tition to  Congress  praying  that  they  might  be  separated  from 
the  community  upon  the  Mississippi. ^  The  petition  was  renew- 
ed in  1809,  the  petitioners  stating  that  they  had  a  government 
in  name  only,  that  they  were  entirely  neglected  by  the  authori- 
ties of  the  Territory.-  This  attitude  was  perfectly  natural,  for 
the  Tombigbee  settlement  was  widely  separated  from  that 
about  Natchez,  and,  being  in  a  minority  in  the  legislature,  it 
was  unable  to  make  its  needs  felt  at  so  great  a  distance. 

In  1809  Madison  County  was  opened  up  in  the  Tennessee 
Valley ;  and  in  1810  West  Florida  was  annexed  to  the  United 
States.  This  country  was  claimed  as  a  part  of  the  Louisiana 
purchase,  but  the  title  was  most  flimsy.  It  seemed,  however, 
that  war  with  England  was  approaching,  and  since  French  and 
English  armies  were  fighting  over  the  throne  of  Spain,  West 
Florida  in  Spanish  hands  was  a  menace  to  our  southern  coast. 
England  might  use  the  Gulf  ports  as  a  base  through  which  to 
treat  with  hostile  Indians,  and  thereby  the  situation  of  our 
frontier  settlements  in  this  region  was  rendered  critical  in 
case  of  hostilities.  A  declaration  of  independence  by  a  band  of 
men,  largely  Americans,  who  had  migrated  into  West  Florida, 
gave  Madison  the  excuse  which  he  eagerly  accepted  as  a  way 
out  of  the  difficult  situation.  A  proclamation  declared  the 
Spanish  province  annexed  to  the  United  States,  and  General 
Claiborne  occupied  the  country  as  far  east  as  the  Pearl  River.'' 

The  newly-acquired  region  was  joined  to  the  Territory  of 
Orleans  for  administrative  purposes.  In  1811,  this  territory 
became  the  State  of  Louisiana,  and  more  than  four  hundred 
West  Floridians  petitioned  Congress  that  their  district  might, 
be  annexed  to  Mississippi  Territory.^  Until  this  time  the 
Mississippi  delegate  had  been  working  in  Congress  for  admis- 
sion to  the  Union  without  division,  but  here  the  intersectional, 

1  Annals  of  Congress,  8  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  624. 

2  Ibid.,  11  Cong.,  Pt.  1,  695. 

3  McMaster,  Histoi-y  of  the  United  States,  III,  371,  et  seq. 

4  American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II,  156. 


34  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

rivalry  in  Congress  came  into  play.  The  House,  where  the 
North  was  in  the  majority,  showed  itself,  even  at  this  early 
date,  willing  to  provide  for  the  admission  of  the  undivided 
Territory.  But  in  the  Senate  the  South,  having  lost  its  hold 
upon  the  House,  was  trying  to  maintain  an  equality.  This 
-could  be  accomplished  only  by  the  admission  of  a  slave  state 
■every  time  a  free  state  was  admitted,  and  from  this  point  of 
view,  it  was  desirable  to  carve  as  many  states  as  possible  from 
southern  territory.  Consequently,  the  Senate  insisted  that 
Mississippi  Territory  be  divided. 

The  combination  of  this  situation  with  the  West  Florida 
annexation  suggested  a  new  idea  to  Poindexter,  the  Terri- 
torial delegate;  and  he  brought  forward  a  proposition  for  di- 
vision by  a  line  running  due  east  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ya- 
zoo. The  southern  portion,  with  West  Florida  annexed,  was 
to  be  admitted  to  the  Union  at  once,  while  the  northern  portion 
was  to  be  given  a  territorial  government.^^ 

This  move  called  down  a  storm  upon  the  author's  head. 
The  Madison  County  inhabitants  would,  it  is  true,  have  been 
glad  enough  to  see  the  plan  carried  through,  leaving  them 
with  a  territorial  government  to  administer  alone."  But  to 
be  tied  permanently  to  the  Mississippi  River  region  with  its 
separate  interests  was  the  last  thing  desired  by  the  Tombig- 
bee  settlers.  Opposition  was  quickly  expressed  in  this  quar- 
ter, and  it  was  seconded  by  many  in  the  Natchez  region  who 
felt  that  the  frontier  settlements  were  yet  too  young  to  sup- 
port the  burden  of  state  government.' 

There  were  other  reasons,  too,  why  many  opposed  the  in- 
stitution of  state  government  at  this  time.  In  1795  the  leg- 
islature of  Georgia  had  made  large  grants  of  land  in  the 
Mississippi  country  to  certain  speculating  companies  which 
came  to  be  known  as  the  "Yazoo"  land  companies.  Exten- 
sive graft  in  connection  with  the  deal  having  been  exposed, 
the  r  ext  session  of  the  legislature  repealed  the  grants  and  de- 
prived the  companies  of  their  charters.  This  was  supposed 
to  have  ended  the  matter,  but  in  1809  the  Federal  Supreme 
Court,  in  the  case  of  Fletcher  vs.  Peck,  declared  that  the  re- 
peal of  the  grants  was  a  breach  of  contract,  amd  therefore  for- 

'»  American  State  Papers,  Misc.,  II,  163-164. 

'■'  Mississippi  Transcripts,  J.  W.  Walker  to  Grtt>.  Poindexter,  Dec.  23, 
1812. 

'  Claiborne,  Mississippi,  350;  Transcripts,  CojwCes,  Btesd:  to  Geo.  Poin- 
dexter, Dec.  23,  1812. 


THE  DIVISION  OF  THE  TERRITORY       «  35 

bidden  by  the  Constitution.  The  claimants  under  the  com- 
panies at  once  appealed  to  Congress  for  relief,  but  John  Ran- 
dolph, of  Roanoke,  made  the  case  his  pet  antipathy  and  pre- 
vented anything  being  done  until  1814. 

When,  in  1802,  Georgia  ceded  to  the  United  States  her 
claim  to  the  Mississippi  region,  it  was  provided  in  the  agree- 
ment that  all  completed  British  and  Spanish  grants  should 
hold  good.  Actual  settlers  were  to  be  provided  for,  and  all 
claims  arising  under  the  act  of  Georgia  which  established 
Bourbon  County  in  the  ceded  region  were  to  be  validated.  In 
addition  to  this,  five  million  acres  of  land  were  set  aside  for 
the  satisfaction  of  any  other  claimants  under  acts  of  Georgia, 
to  be  appropriated  as  Congress  might  see  fit.  The  Yazoo 
claimants  were  the  chief  possible  beneficiaries  under  this  pro- 
vision, but  it  was  long  before  the  matter  was  put  at  rest.*^ 

In  1811  many  titles  to  land  in  Mississippi  Territory  were 
threatened  by  the  Yazoo  claimants,  and  many  others  were 
threatened  by  a  conflict  between  British  and  Spanish  grants. 
A  number  of  actual  settlers  held  tracts  under  Spanish  grants 
which  had  been  superseded  by  grants  under  the  British  ad- 
ministration. These  British  claims  had  never  been  estab- 
lished, but  the  matter  was  subject  to  judicial  determination, 
and  it  caused  uneasiness  to  many  who  lived  upon  the  land. 

Because  of  this  uncertainty  of  land  tenure,  courts  of  Fed- 
eral jurisdiction  were  not  established  in  Mississippi  Terri- 
tory, and  though  the  delegate  in  Congress  pressed  for  a  com- 
promise of  the  British  claims,  nothing  was  accomplished  up 
to  the  time  when  Mississippi  was  admitted  to  the  Union.  It 
was  the  dread  of  Federal  courts,  therefore,  and  of  British  and 
Yazoo  claimants  which  caused  many  men  to  oppose  admis- 
sion to  statehood  in  1812.'' 

But  in  spite  of  all  these  objections,  an  act  providing  for  the 
admission  of  the  undivided  Territory  was  passed  by  the 
House  and  sent  up  to  the  Senate  in  this  year.  The  Senate 
committee  to  which  the  bill  was  referred  advised  division 
along  the  line  of  the  Tombigbee  River,  and  proposed  that  the 
question  lie  over  until  the  next  session. i'^ 

Georgia,  in  granting  her  claim  to  the  United  States,  had 
provided  that  the  whole  territory  be  admitted  into  the  Union 

'^  Treat,  The  National  Land  System,  355-364. 

»  Washington  Repuhlican ,  Sept.  9,  1815,  March  13,  and  April  17,  1816, 
April  9,  1817. 

1"  American  State  Papers,  Misc.,  II,  182. 


36  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

as  a  single  state  as  soon  as  its  population  should  amount  to 
sixty  thousand  whites.  In  view  of  the  action  of  the  Senate, 
Poindexter  now  brought  in  a  resolution  that  Congress  secure 
Georgia's  permission  to  a  division  of  the  Territory."  The  res- 
olution passed  both  Houses,  and  within  the  year  Georgia's  ac- 
quiescence was  reported  to  the  Senate.  But  the  War  of  1812 
coming  on  at  this  time,  its  depression  was  added  to  the  argu- 
ments of  those  who  wished  to  postpone  the  question  of  state- 
hood. Thus,  from  1812  to  1815  the  matter  was  not  agitated 
to  any  great  extent. 

When  the  question  of  admission  was  again  brought  before 
Congress  in  1815,  two  things  had  happened  to  change  the  sit- 
uation. In  1812  so  much  of  West  Florida  as  lay  between  the 
Pearl  and  Perdido  Rivers  was  added  to  the  Territory,  and  in 
1814  Congress  settled  the  Yazoo  Claims  by  appropriating 
five  million  dollars  in  scrip  to  be  distributed  to  the  claimants 
under  the  several  companies  and  redeemed  in  payment  on  the 
first  lands  to  be  sold  in  Mississippi  Territory. 

Though  the  British  claims  still  threatened  many  of  the  set- 
tlers, the  prospects  of  peace  and  immigration  now  caused 
the  Territorial  delegate,  Dr.  Lattimore,  who  had  opposed  ad- 
mission when  first  elected  in  1813,  to  come  out  in  favor  of  the 
admission  without  division.^-  Petitions  to  that  effect  were 
sent  up  by  the  legislature,  and  in  1816  the  House  passed  a  bill 
framed  in  accordance  with  that  policy.  But  the  attitude  of 
the  Senate  had  not  changed.  The  commitee  to  which  the  bill 
was  referred  again  proposed  division  by  a  north  and  south 
line,  and  the  question  of  admission  was  again  postponed.^ -^ 

Lattimore  now  saw  the  uselessness  of  working  along  the 
old  line,  and  expressed  himself  as  willing  to  accept  division  if 
Congress  insisted  upon  it.''  But,  in  the  meantime,  the  sit- 
uation had  changed  at  home.  The  extensive  Creek  cession  of 
1814  and  the  smaller  cessions  from  the  Cherokees,  Chicka- 
saws,  and  Choctaws  in  1816  had  opened  up  a  great  stretch  of 
country  comprising  most  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  Territory. 
The  settlers  upon  the  Tombigbee  now  expected  to  see  their 
river  basin  become,  in  a  short  while,  more  populous  than  the 
region  bordering  the  Mississippi.     They  accordingly  antici- 

11  Annals  of  Congress,  12  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  II,  1480. 

12  Washington  Republican,  April  5  and  April  26,  1815. 

13  Annals  of  Congress^  14  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  3.52;  Washingtuxc  RepiuMieaTt, 
April  16,  1817. 

n  Washington  Republican,  May  22  and  May  29,  1816. 


THE  DIVISION  OF  THE  TERRITORY  37 

pated  control  of  the  legislature  and  the  removal  of  the  capi- 
tal to  St.  Stephens. 

Such  a  prospect  was  by  no  means  pleasing  to  the  men 
who  lived  between  Pearl  River  and  the  Mississippi.  So  great- 
ly did  they  dread  the  threatened  preponderance  of  the  east- 
ern section  of  the  Territory  that  they  gave  up  their  old  enthu- 
siasm for  a  single  state  and  supported  Lattimore  on  the  ques- 
tion of  division.  This,  they  now  believed,  was  the  only  way 
to  keep  their  capital  near  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Tombigbee  settlers  now  appeared 
much  alarmed  at  the  prospect  of  division.  Meetings  were  held 
in  several  places,  and  the  counties  were  urged  to  send  dele- 
gates to  assemble  in  convention  at  Ford's  on  Pearl  River, 
Here  a  gathering  of  delegates  took  place  in  October,  but  Madi- 
son and  the  counties  west  of  the  Pearl  were  not  represented. 
Resolutions  opposing  division  were  drawn  up  and  Judge  Har- 
ry Toulmin  was  sent  to  Washington  to  present  the  memorial 
of  the  convention,  and  to  work  for  its  cause  when  the  matter 
should  be  brought  up  again. i'' 

When  Congress  assembled  in  December,  the  House  commit- 
tee to  which  the  Mississippi  question  was  referred  expressed 
itself  as  being  in  favor  of  a  division  of  the  Territory,  with  im- 
mediate admission  of  the  western  portion  and  a  territorial 
government  for  the  eastern  half.  The  agitated  question  was 
as  to  the  demarcation.  Lattimore  proposed  a  line  running  due 
north  from  the  Gulf  to  the  northwest  corner  of  Washington 
County,  then  following  the  Choctaw  boundary  to  the  Tombig- 
bee. Toulmin  wished  a  line  that  would  give  Wayne,  Greene, 
and  Jackson  Counties  to  the  eastern  government,  and  some  at- 
tempt was  made  to  fix  upon  the  Pascagoula  as  the  boundary. 
The  counties  in  dispute  were  much  nearer  the  Tombigbee 
than  they  were  to  the  Mississippi,  and  it  was  argued  that  it 
would  be  an  unnnecessary  inconvenience  to  their  inhabitants 
to  have  to  look  to  a  capital  upon  the  great  River,  when  St. 
Stephens  was  so  much  closer.^*'  In  the  end,  Lattimore  was 
more  successful  than  Toulmin  and,  though  giving  some  ground, 
he  came  near  to  having  his  way.  The  line  was  fixed  so  as  to 
run  due  north  from  the  Gulf  to  the  northwest  corner  of  Wash- 
ington County,  thence  directly  to  the  point  where  Bear  Creek 

15  Washington  Republican,  Nov.  13,  1816;  Jackson  Papers,  James  Ti- 
tus to  Andrew  Jackson,  Dec.  5,  1816. 

!<■' Darby,  Immigrant's  Guide,  107-113;  Washington  Republican,  Jan. 
22,  Feb.  26,  March  5,  1817. 


38  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

flows  into  the  Tennessee,  then  along  the  course  of  the  river  to 
the  Tennessee  line. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  present  boundary  does  not  run 
due  north  from  the  Gulf,  but  slightly  northwest  instead. 
This  is  because  it  was  found  that  the  line,  as  originally  es- 
tablished, encroached  slightly  upon  Wayne,  Greene,  and  Jack- 
son Counties.  In  order  to  remedy  this,  the  Alabama  enabling 
act  of  1819  changed  it  so  as  to  make  it  run  southeastward 
from  the  northwest  corner  of  Washington  County  and  to 
strike  the  Gulf  at  a  point  ten  miles  east  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Pascagoula.^' 

The  act  establishing  Alabama  Territory  was  approved 
March  3,  1817.''^  All  laws  applying  to  the  old  Mississippi  Ter- 
ritory were  to  remain  in  force  until  they  might  be  changed. 
Officials  holding  places  under  the  old  government  for  eastern 
districts  were  to  retain  their  positions  until  they  should  be  re- 
placed, and  William  Wyatt  Bibb,  of  Georgia,  was  appointed 
Governor. 

Bibb  had  just  previously  resigned  his  seat  in  the  United 
States  Senate  because  his  vote  for  a  bill  increasing  the  sal- 
aries of  Senators  aroused  a  storm  of  indignation  at  home.  His 
colleague,  Charles  Tait,  was  under  the  same  condemnation, 
but,  urged  by  John  W.  Walker,  of  Huntsville,  he  remained  un- 
til the  end  of  his  term  and  saw  Alabama  safely  admitted  to  the 
Union.  Then,  retiring  from  public  life  in  Georgia,  he  purchas- 
ed a  plantation  upon  the  Alabama  and  moved  into  the  new 
state.  ^^  It  was  Senator  Tait,  who,  in  1802,  had  notified  the  Sen- 
ate of  Georgia's  consent  to  a  division  of  Mississippi  Territory 
and  who  piloted  through  that  body  the  final  bill  which  provid- 
ed for  division  in  1817.  Both  Tait  and  Bibb  were  staunch 
friends  of  William  H.  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  it  was  likely  through  his  influence  that  the  lat- 
ter was  appointed  Governor  of  Alabama  Territory. 

Such  members  as  had  represented  eastern  districts  in  the 
legislature  of  Mississippi  Territory  were  empowered  to  meet 
at  St.  Stephens  to  set  the  new  government  in  motion.  There 
on  January  19,  1818,  the  first  session  was  held. 

St.  Stephens  stood  at  the  head  of  schooner  navigation  on 
the  Tombigbee.     In  1811  it  consisted  of  three  houses ;  four 

17  statutes  at  Large,  III,  490. 
IS  Ibid.,  Ill,  371-372. 

i:>  Tompkins,  Charles  Tait,  12-16;  Tait  Papers,  J.  W.  Walker  to  C.  Tait, 
Jan.  18)  1817. 


THE  DIVISION  OF  THE  TERRITORY  39 

years  later  it  boasted  of  nine;  and  in  1816  the  number  had 
grown  to  forty.-"     In  two  rooms  in     Douglas     Hotel,    hired 
for  the  purpose,  the     legislature     met.^i     The     House     con- 
sisted of    about    thirteen     members     who     elected     Gabriel 
Moore  their  speaker.     The  Council  had     but     one     member, 
James  Titus,  who  had  been  president  of  the  old  Council.     Not 
to  be  abashed  by  the  situation,  he  convened  with  all  due  cer- 
emony, dispatched  business,  and  adjourned  from  day  to  day.-^ 
In  his  message,  the  Governor  recommended  the  promotion 
of  education  and  internal  improvements,  but  added  that  the 
latter  object  could  hardly  be  accomplished  without  the  aid  of 
the   Federal   Government.     Accordingly,   a  memorial  asking 
for  assistance  in  this  matter  was  drawn  up  by  the  legislature 
and  sent  to  Washington.     The  legislation  accomplished  at  this 
session  included  the  establishment  of  new  counties;  the  in- 
corporation of  a  steamboat  company,  an  academy,  and  a  bank 
at  St.  Stephens ;  and  the  repeal  of  the  law  fixing  a  maximum 
rate  of  interest  which  could  be  charged  on  loans.     Thereaf- 
ter, any  percentage  agreed  upon  between  the  contracting  par- 
ties and  stated  in  writing  would  be  legal.     Six  men  were  nom- 
inated from  whom  the  President  was  to  select  three  for  the 
Executive  Council,  and  a  commission  was  appointed  to  report 
to  the  next  session  of  the  legislature  on  a  favorable  site  for 
the  permanent  seat  of  the  Territorial  Government.-"^ 

It  was  during  the  territorial  period  of  Alabama  that  the 
Seminole  War  broke  out  upon  the  Florida  frontier.  Several 
white  settlers  were  killed  by  the  restive  Indians  and  militia 
was  rushed  to  the  seat  of  disturbance.  Though  troops  were  sta- 
tioned at  several  points  in  Alabama,  and  a  certain  amount  of 
fighting  took  place  within  her  borders,  the  struggle  went  on 
primarily  in  Florida.  The  storm  stirred  up  by  Jackson's  un- 
authorized attack  upon  Pensacola  and  by  the  hanging  of  Ar- 
buthnot  and  Ambrister  belong  to  National  rather  than  to  State 
history. 

Alabama  was  not  greatly  affected  by  these  events  and  the 
tide  of  immigration  moved  on  undisturbed.  Among  those 
who  came  in  about  this  time  was  a  party  of  Frenchmen,  sup- 
porters of  Napoleon,  fleeing  from  the  Bourbons  who  had  been 

-*^  Jackson  Papers,  A.  P.  Hayne  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Nov.  27,  1816. 

21  Meek  MS.,  The  Alabayrta  Terntory. 

22  Pickett,  Histoi-y  of  Alabama,  615;  Monette,  Historif  of  Mississippi 
Valley,  446-447. 

23  Pickett,  History  of  Alabama,  615-617 


40  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

returned  to  power.  They  had  moved  to  America  in  a  body 
and  formed  an  association  with  headquarters  at  Philadelphia. 
Inquiring  for  land  where  the  vine  and  the  olive  might  be 
grown,  their  attention  had  been  directed  to  Alabama.  At 
their  request,  Congress  agreed  to  sell  two  townships  of  land 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Black  Warrior  and  the  Tombigbee. 
Here  a  town  was  laid  out  and  a  settlement  established.  A 
number  of  Napoleon's  famous  generals,  including  Grouchy, 
Desnoettes,  Clausel,  and  I'Allemand,  were  concerned  in  the 
enterprise.  Log  cabins  and  agriculture  were  less  familiar  to 
them  than  the  sword,  and  the  vine  and  olive  did  not  flourish 
upon  the  Tombigbee.  Though  the  town  of  Demopolis  owes 
its  beginning  to  these  refugees,  most  of  them  finally  gave  up 
the  attempted  settlement.  Some  returned  to  their  native  land 
when  conditions  made  that  possible,  others  took  up  their  abode 
among  the  native  population. 2* 

24  J.  S.  Reeves,  The  Napoleonic  Exiles  in  Johns  Hopkins  1/  inrcr«ity 
St7idies,  XXIII,  525-656. 


Chapter  V. 


ALABAMA  BECOMES  A  STATE. 

So  rapid  had  been  the  growth  of  population  in  Alabama 
during  1817  and  1818  that,  when  the  second  session  of  the 
legislature  met  at  St.  Stephens  in  November  of  the  latter  year, 
transition  to  statehood  was  expected  within  a  short  while. 
Preparations  for  this  event  consequently  absorbed  the  atten- 
tion of  the  assembly. 

A  petition  to  Congress  praying  that  the  Territory  might 
be  admitted  to  the  Union  as  a  state  was  drawn  up  by  the  legis- 
lature and  sent  by  John  W.  Walker,  the  speaker  of  the  House, 
to  his  friend,  Senator  Tait,  of  Georgia,^  who  presented  it  to" 
the  Senate.  But  the  matter  was  not  allowed  to  rest  here.  A 
census  of  the  Territory  had  been  taken,  and  the  legislature 
proceeded  to  apportion  the  representatives  for  the  constitu- 
tional convention.  On  this  question  considerable  difficulty 
arose.  Madison  was  the  most  populous  county  in  the  Terri- 
tory and  the  members  from  the  southern  counties  attempted 
to  reduce  the  representation  of  the  Tennessee  Valley  region 
by  providing  that  no  county  could  have  more  than  a  given 
number  of  seats  in  the  convention.  This  was  strongly  oppos- 
ed by  members  from  the  northern  counties  and  they  finally 
carried  their  point,  securing  a  proportional  representation. 
But  in  order  to  accomplish  this  it  became  necessary  for  them 
to  accept  a  rider  to  the  apportionment  bill  providing  for  the 
location  of  the  seat  of  government  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
Territory.2 

As  was  stated  in  the  last  chapter,  the  first  session  of  the 
Territorial  legislature  appointed  a  committee  which  was  to 
report  on  a  suitable  site  for  the  seat  of  government.  At  the 
second  session,  Governor  Bibb,  who  was  on  the  committee 
and  seems  to  have  taken  the  entire  responsibility  of  the 
choice  upon  himself,  reported  in  favor  of  locating  the  capital 
at  the  junction  of  the  Cahawba  and  Alabama  Rivers."     This 


1  Tait  Papers,  J.  W.  Walker  to  C.  Tait,  Nov.  11,  1818. 
-'  Tait  Papers,  J.  W.  Walker  to  C.  Tait,  Nov.  9,   1818,  and   Nov.  15, 
1818. 

3  Tait  Papers,  W.  W.  Bibb  to  C.  Tait,  Sept.  19,  1818. 


42  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

was  the  location  forced  upon  the  northern  members  by  means 
of  the  rider. 

The  place  selected,  while  convenient  for  all  those  who  lived 
on  the  rivers  of  southern  Alabama,  was  quite  out  of  communi- 
cation with  the  Tennessee  Valley,  and  natiirally  was  opposed 
by  the  men  from  that  section.  In  giving  their  consent  to  the 
bill  which  established  this  location,  the  representatives  from 
the  northern  counties  were  making  a  substantial  concession, 
but,  by  way  of  compensation,  they  secured  a  provision  that 
Huntsville  should  be  the  temporary  seat  of  government  until 
a  town  could  be  laid  out  and  buildings  erected  at  Cahawba. 

Walker  kept  Tait  posted  on  all  these  proceedings.  He  sent 
him  a  copy  of  the  apportionment  bill,  stating  that  the  Senate 
was  expected  to  distribute  the  seats  in  the  constitutional  con- 
vention accordingly,  and  that  Huntsville  should  be  the  place 
of  meeting.^  John  Crowell  had  been  sent  to  Washington 
as  Territorial  delegate,  but  his  finger  is  to  be  seen  in  none  of 
these  transactions.  Indeed,  Walker  wrote  to  Tait  that  he  did 
not  hold  a  very  high  opinion  of  the  delegate,'''  and  there  is  ev- 
idence to  show  that  Crowell,  in  so  far  as  he  was  able  to  bring 
any  weight  to  bear,  opposed  the  plans  of  Walker  and  Tait.^ 
However,  the  Senator  from  Georgia  succeeded  in  getting  his 
enabling  act  through  as  desired,  and  it  was  signed  on  March 
2,  1819."  The  convention  was  to  meet  in  Huntsville  on  the 
first  Monday  in  July,  Madison  County  securing  eight  dele- 
gates against  four  for  the  next  largest  county.  Provision 
was  made  for  granting  to  the  new  State  the  sixteenth  section 
of  land  in  each  township  for  the  use  of  schools ;  all  salt  springs 
within  her  borders ;  three  per  cent,  of  the  proceeds  of  all  sales 
of  public  lands  within  the  State  to  be  applied  in  the  construc- 
tion of  roads;  two  townships  for  the  use  of  a  seminary  of 
learning;  and  1620  acres  at  the  junction  of  the  Cahawba  and 
Alabama  Rivers  where  the  seat  of  government  was  to  be 
laid  out. 

Among  the  men  elected  to  the  convention  were  some  who 
had  had  experience  in  the  public  affairs  of  the  states  from 

-»  Tait  Papers,  J.  W.  Walker  to  C.  Tait,  Nov.  (?),  1818. 

->  Ibid.,  J.  W.  Walker  to  C.  Tait,  Feb.  8,  1819. 

*'<  Huntsville  Republican,  Feb.  6,  1819.  The  editor  states  that  Mr. 
Crowell  said  that  he  remonstrated  before  a  Congressional  Committee 
in  regard  to  the  admission  of  Alabama,  and  that  this  remonstrance  was 
likely  against  the  rule  of  representation  for  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion as  adopted  by  the  Alabama  Legislature. 

■  Statutes  at  Large,  III,  489-492. 


ALABAMA  BECOMES  A  STATE  43 

which  they  came.  Three  former  Congressmen  and  two  su- 
preme court  judges  from  North  Carolina  sat  in  the  body  along 
with  a  number  of  others  who  had  seen  less  conspicuous  public 
service. "^  Nor  was  it  considered  incongruous  that  Sam  Dale, 
the  most  notable  pioneer  and  Indian  fighter  of  the  Alabama 
country,  should  sit  among  them.  On  the  whole,  the  members 
seem  to  have  been  selected  quietly  and  with  the  intention  of 
securing  the  best  available  men.  From  among  their  number 
six  governors,  six  state  supreme  court  judges,  and  six  United 
States  Senators  were  later  selected."' 

The  convention  assembled  at  Huntsville  on  July  5,  1819, 
and  John  W.  Walker  was  elected  to  preside.  A  committee  of 
fifteen  was  instructed  to  draw  up  and  submit  a  frame  of  gov- 
ernment ;  no  journal  was  kept  of  the  proceedings  of  this  com- 
mittee. The  instrument  of  government  which  was  pre^red 
was  accepted  by  the  convention  with  practically  no  amend- 
ments, so  that  we  know  very  little  concerning  the  process  by 
which  the  constitution  was  framed. ^^  It  was  modeled  large- 
ly after  that  of  Mississippi  and  the  striking  feature  is  that  it 
made  the  legislature  superior  to  the  other  branches  of  gov- 
ernment. The  Governor's  vote  could  be  over-ridden  by  a  ma- 
jority of  those  elected  to  each  House  of  the  legislature,  and  all 
State  judges  were  elected  by  a  joint  vote  of  that  body.  These 
judges  held  office  during  good  behaviour,  but  could  be  remov- 
ed on  an  address  to  the  Governor  adopted  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  of  the  legislature.  The  heads  of  the  executive  depart- 
ments,— the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Treasurer  and  Comptrol- 
ler, the  Attorney  General, — were  elected  by  a  joint  vote  of  the 
general  assembly,  it  being  the  duty  of  the  first  of  these  to  keep 
a  record  of  the  acts  of  the  Governor  and  to  lay  the  same  be- 
fore the  assembly. 

The  social  and  political  temper  of  the  convention  may  be 
judged  from  the  constitutional  provisions  in  regard  to  suf- 
frage and  representation.  All  white,  adult  males  who  were 
citizens  of  the  United  States  and  who  had  resided  for  a  year 
in  the  State  were  given  the  right  to  vote.  Representation, 
both  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  House,  was  to  be  apportioned 
according  to  the  white  population,  nor  was  there  any  proper- 
ty qualification  for  representatives.     Slaves  were  to  be  grant- 

'^  Tompkins,  Charles  Tait,  12-16;  Tait  Papers,  J.  W.  Walker  to  C.  Tait, 
Jan.  18.  1817. 

'■'Thomas.  Birth  of  the  CovHtitntum  of  Alnbanm,  4-5. 
1"  Journal  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1819. 


44  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

ed  trial  by  jury  in  cases  more  serious  than  petty  larceny,  and 
in  case  of  personal  injury  to  a  slave,  the  offending  party 
should  be  punished  just  as  though  the  person  injured  had  been 
a  white  man.  The  legislature  was  given  no  power  to  emanci- 
pate slaves  without  the  consent  of  their  owners;  but  owners 
might  secure  the  emancipation  of  their  slaves,  and  the  legis- 
lature might  prohibit  the  bringing  of  slaves  into  the  State  as 
merchandise. 

The  constitution  provided  that  a  State  bank  might  be  es- 
tablished with  as  many  branches  as  the  legislature  might  di- 
rect, but  no  branch  was  to  be  established  nor  bank  charter  re- 
newed except  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  each  House,  nor  could 
more  than  one  branch  be  established  or  bank  charter  renew- 
ed at  any  one  session  of  the  general  assembly.  It  was  also 
provided  that  the  banks  already  existing  might  become 
branches  of  the  State  bank  by  agreement  between  them  and 
the  assembly,  in  which  case,  however,  they  were  bound  by  the 
same  rules  as  applied  to  other  branches.  And  in  all  such 
banks  and  branches,  it  was  necessary  that  two-fifths  of  the 
stock  and  a  proportional  representation  in  the  directory  be 
reserved  to  the  State.  ^^ 

It  was  provided  that  the  first  session  of  the  general  as- 
sembly should  meet  at  Huntsville,  and  after  that  it  was  to 
meet  at  Cahawba  until  1825.  The  first  session  which  should 
meet  in  that  year  would  have  power,  without  the  consent  of 
the  Governor,  to  designate  a  permanent  seat  of  government, 
but  if  this  were  not  done,  the  seat  was  to  remain  permanently 
at  Cahawba. 

The  general  assembly  might,  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  each 
House,  propose  amendments  to  the  constitution.  These  had 
to  be  published  three  months  before  the  next  general  election 
of  representatives;  and  if  a  majority  of  votes  were  cast  in 
favor,  the  next  session  of  the  assembly  might  incorporate 
them  into  the  constitution  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  each  House. 
Thus  the  initiative  as  well  as  the  final  action  in  changing  the 
constitution  was  in  the  hands  of  the  legislature. 

This  instrument  of  government  was,  judged  by  the  stand- 
ards of  the  time,  liberal.  In  the  older  states,  restricted  suf- 
frage, discrimination  between  religious  denominations,  un- 
equal representation,  and  imprisonment  for  debt,  were  still 
common.     In  Alabama,  imprisonment  for  debt  was  to  be  for- 

11  Constitution  of  Alabama,  1819. 


ALABAMA  BECOMES  A  STATE  45 

bidden,  slaves  were  to  be  treated  as  liberally  as  circumstances 
seemed  to  warrant,  nor  was  any  interest  or  section  to  be  given 
special  weight  in  the  councils  of  the  State.  It  is  significant 
that  the  slave  holder  was  given  no  advantage  over  the  non- 
slave  holder  in  the  matter  of  suffrage  and  representation. 

All  this  looks  like  pioneer  democracy  as  it  came  to  be  under- 
stood under  Andrew  Jackson.  But  there  was  a  difference. 
Manhood  suffrage  meant  a  government  by  the  people,  but 
once  they  had  voted,  their  power  passed  to  a  remarkable  de- 
gree into  the  hands  of  their  representatives.  The  legislature 
controlled  the  executive  and  the  judiciary  and  dominated  in 
the  matter  of  constitutional  amendment.  Pure  Jacksonian 
democracy  would  not  have  consented  to  a  bench  elected  by  the 
legislature  and  holding  office  during  good  behaviour.  Though 
the  government  was  framed  along  liberal  lines,  the  conserva- 
tive element  was  strongly  marked.  Instead  of  reserving  as 
much  power  as  possible  to  the  hands  of  the  people,  it  was 
placed' in  the  hands  of  those  whom  the  people  should  choose 
to  represent  them. 

The  convention  made  provision  for  the  election  of  repre- 
sentatives and  officials  under  the  new  government,  and  the 
constitution  went  into  effect  without  submission  to  the  peo- 
ple.^^  It  served  Alabama  until  the  War  of  Secession  with  but 
three  amendments. 

In  the  selection  of  officials,  the  contest  for  the  governor- 
ship and  for  the  Federal  judgeship  are  of  especial  interest  in 
that  they  foreshadow  political  alignments  that  were  of  more 
than  temporary  importance.  Bibb,  the  Territorial  governor, 
was  at  first  the  only  candidate  for  the  governorship.  Later 
Marmaduke  Williams,  of  Tuscaloosa,  came  out  against  him. 
Bibb  lived  in  the  southern  section  of  Alabama  and  his  choice 
of  Cahawba  as  the  seat  of  government  had  provoked  strong 
opposition  in  the  northern  section. ^'^  Of  course,  there  was  no 
chance  of  locating  the  capital  in  the  Tennessee  Valley,  but 
Tuscaloosa  was  accessible  to  that  section  by  way  of  the  Jones 
Valley  Route.  This  town,  though  within  a  few  miles  of  the 
Mississippi  line,  was  also  fairly  easy  of  access  from  the  south- 
em  part  of  Alabama,  because  of  its  situation  on  navigable 
water  and  on  the  thoroughfare  between  the  two  sections  of 
the  State.  The  Tennessee  Valley  region  united  with  the 
Black  Warrior  and  upper  Tombigbee  regions  in  support  of 


12  Constitution  of  1819,  Schedule,  section  7. 

13  Tait  Papers,  W.  W.  Bibb  to  C.  Tait,  Sept.  19,  1818. 


46  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

this  place  as  the  logical  seat  of  government,  and  Williams 
was  fitted  to  express  this  sentiment.  Bibb  was  the  stronger 
candidate,  however,  and  his  influence  with  the  National  gov- 
ernment would  likely  prove  of  much  use  to  the  new  State.  He 
was  supported  by  conservative  men  and  carried  two  counties 
in  the  Tennessee  Valley,  but,  aside  from  this,  the  line  which 
separates  the  waters  of  the  Black  Warrior  and  Tombigbee 
from  the  waters  of  the  Alabama  was  the  line  which  separated 
the  supporters  of  Bibb  from  those  of  Williams.^^  The  elec- 
tion was  won  by  Bibb. 

The  first  general  assembly  of  the  State  met  at  Huntsville 
in  October,  and  one  of  its  most  important  duties  was  to  elect 
the  two  United  States  Senators.  There  was  an  understanding 
that  one  was  to  come  from  the  south  and  one  from  the  north, 
each  section  being  ready  to  vote  for  the  candidate  put  forward 
by  the  other.  The  choice  of  the  Tennessee  Valley  easily  fell 
upon  John  W.  Walker,  nor  did  it  take  the  Alabama  and  Tom- 
bigbee section  long  to  decide  on  WiHiam  R.  King.^''  This 
gentleman  had  represented  North  Carolina  in  Congress  dur- 
ing those  exciting  days  when  the  second  war  with  England 
was  decided  upon,  and  he  had  been  of  the  "war  hawks."  He 
had  later  served  as  secretary  of  legation  to  William  Pinckney 
at  Naples  and  St.  Petersburg,  and  a  long  political  career  now 
awaited  him  in  Alabama.^'^ 

Because  of  the  agreement  between  the  two  sections,  the 
choice  of  the  Senators  passed  off  quietly  enough  in  the  legis- 
lature, but  there  was  commotion  below  the  surface.  Tait, 
after  his  valuable  services  to  Alabama  in  the  United  States 
Senate,  had  returned  to  private  life  and  taken  up  his  residence 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  new  State.  It  was  not  natural  that 
he  should  be  passed  over  in  the  matter  of  political  preferment, 
and  he  had  at  least  one  friend  who  did  not  intend  that  he 
should  be  overlooked.  That  friend  was  William  H.  CrawforC'!, 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  Crawford  and  Tait  had  become 
fast  friends  while  teaching  together  in  Augusta,  and  they  lat- 
er came  to  be  political  allies. 

The  Secretary  was  anxious  for  Tait  to  be  sent  to  the  Sen- 
ate from  Alabama,^"  and  Tait  would  not  have  objected.  But 
Walker  and  his  friends  in  the  north  could  not  further  this  am- 

t^  House  Journal,  1819,  37. 

i-^>  Tait  Papers,  J.  W.  Walker  to  C.  Tait,  Aug.  7,  1819. 

K'  Pickett,  History  of  Alabama,  641-647. 

1'  Tait  Papers,  W.  H.  Crawford  to  C.  Tait,  Nov.  7,  1819. 


ALABAMA  BECOMES  A  STATE  47 

bition,  for  the  south  was  choosing  its  own  candidate,  and  it 
chose  King.  Tait  indicated  that  his  second  choice  would  be  for 
the  Federal  judgeship  in  Alabama, i'^  but  there  was  another 
candidate  for  this  place  also.  Toulmin  had  been  Federal 
judge  for  Alabama  Territory  and  it  was  natural  that  he 
should  expect  to  retain  his  place  when  Alabama  became  a 
state.  William  Crawford,  of  Alabama,  had  applied  to  Gov- 
ernor Bibb  for  the  appointment,  and  Bibb  had  recommended 
him  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury ;  but  when  the  Alabama 
Crawford  heard  that  Tait  wanted  the  position,  he  withdrew 
his  request. 1^  Bibb  then  recommended  Tait  to  the  Secre- 
tary,2"  and  by  this  time  Walker  was  in  Washington  and  able 
to  help  his  friend.  He  went  to  the  President  with  the 
matter,  and  the  appointment  was  easily  put  through,  Monroe 
answering  a  letter  from  Toulmin  to  the  effect  that  he  could 
do  nothing  for  him.-^ 

Crawford  was  in  control  of  the  patronage  of  Alabama  and 
put  his  friends  into  office  wherever  he  could.  He  even  of- 
fered a  land  office  receivership  to  King  in  order  to  get  him 
out  of  the  way  of  Tait's  senatorial  ambitions.  This  situation 
naturally  aroused  the  antagonism  of  those  who  sought  office 
i*  vain,  and  tended  to  unite  all  elements  against  the  men  from 
Georgia  who  were  strongest  numerically  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Montgomery  County,  but  who  constituted  a  powerful 
minority  in  Huntsville  and  other  towns.  Denunciation  of  the 
"Georgia  faction"  became  common,  and  the  Georgia  men,  see- 
ing the  danger  in  this,  did  what  they  could  to  allay  it,  even 
securing  the  appointment  of  some  outsiders  to  office,'^^  g^^ 
here  was  a  political  situation  which  cast  a  long  shadow  down 
the  early  history  of  Alabama. 

During  the  first  session  of  the  general  assembly,  there  oc- 
curred another  event  which  will  serve  to  complete  the  politi- 
cal picture  of  Alabama  in  1819.  General  Jackson  came  to 
Huntsville  with  his  horses  to  take  part  in  some  racing.  Such 
an  occasion  could  not  be  passed  over  in  silence  and  the  legis- 
lature took  the  opportunity  to  celebrate.^'*  A  resolution  ad- 
mitting the  General  within  the  bar  of  both  Houses  was  passed. 


IS  Walker  Papers,  H.  Toulmin  to  J.  W.  Walker,  Feb.  21,  1819. 
i»  Walker  Papers,  C.  Tait  to  J.  W.  Walker,  Nov.  19,  1819. 
-'<)  Tait  Papers,  W.  H.  Crawford  to  C.  Tait,  Nov.  29,  1819. 
-'1  Ibid.,  J.  W.  Walker  to  C.  Tait,  Dec.  20,  1819. 

■ri  Walker  Papers,  C.  Tait  to  J.  W.  Walker,  Oct.  9,  1819;  Tait  Papers, 
W.  H.  Crawford  to  C.  Tait,  Nov.  7,  1819,  and  Nov.  29,  1819. 
23  Pickett,  History  of  Ahbama,  661-662. 


48  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

and  another  approving  his  course  in  the  Seminole  War  was 
introduced.  This  latter  resolution  read  as  follows :  "And  be 
it  further  resolved  that  this  General  Assembly  do  highly  dis- 
approve of  the  late  attempt  made  by  some  members  of  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States  at  the  last  session  to  censure 
the  military  course  of  this  inestimable  officer  from  motives 
(as  we  believe)  other  than  patriotic."  It  was  carried  in  the 
House  by  a  majority  of  twenty-seven  to  twenty-one;  five 
counties,  two  in  the  north  and  three  in  the  south,  going 
against  it,  ten  well  scattered  counties  voting  in  favor  of  it  and 
six  splitting  their  vote  equally.-^ 

This,  on  the  surface,  does  not  appear  to  be  a  very  decisive 
affair.  But  James  G.  Birney,  who  lived  in  Huntsville  in  the 
days  before  he  became  a  leader  of  abolitionists  and  who  was 
now  a  member  of  the  assembly,  signed  his  political  death  war- 
rant in  Alabama  by  opposing  Jackson  on  this  occasion.-"^  The 
same  is  true  of  most  of  the  others  who  took  a  similar  course. 
Jacksonism  had  not  been  an  issue  when  the  assembly  was 
elected  and  many  got  seats  whose  opinions  would  have  de- 
barred them  at  a  later  time. 

But  such  men  as  Birney  had  strong  company.  Governor 
Bibb  wrote  to  Tait  concerning  Jackson's  attack  on  Pensacola 
in  the  Seminole  War  as  follows : 

"Government  has  done  right  respecting  the  occupation  of 
Florida,  except  in  apologies  for  Genl.  Jackson.  In  that  they 
have  erred  (according  to  my  judgment)  most  egregiously. 
They  will  gain  nothing  by  it  with  his  friends,  and  lose  much 
with  the  thinking  part  of  the  nation.  Not  a  moment  should 
liave  been  lost  in  arresting  the  Genl.  and  thereby  showing  a 
just  regard  to  the  preservation  of  our  constitution.  No  man 
should  be  permitted  in  a  free  country  to  usurp  the  whole  pow- 
ers of  the  whole  government  and  to  thwart  with  contempt  all 
authority  except  that  of  his  own  will. "2*"' 

Walker  showed  a  different  spirit.     He  wrote  to  Tait : 

"I  fear  we  think  too  much  alike  about  some  things  touch- 
ing the  Seminole  War.  I  would  to  God  they  were  undone. 
He  is  a  great  man  with  great  defects.  One  cannot  help  lov- 
ing or  blaming  him.     But  I  follow  your  exemplary  course — 


•■i*  House  Journal,  1819,  45. 

25  Birney's  Birney,  40. 

2«  Tait  Papers,  W.  W.  Bibb  to  C.  Tait,  Sept.  19,  1818. 

ii-  Ibid.,  J.  W.  Walker  to  C.  Tait,  Jan.  19,  1819. 


ALABAMA  BECOMES  A  STATE  49 

and  perhaps  go  further :  when  I  cannot  praise  I  try  to  be  si- 
lent."^" 

As  for  the  opinion  of  the  more  eminent  friends  of  these 
Alabama  leaders,  Crawford  expressed  his  very  clearly  in  a  let- 
ter to  Governor  Holmes,  of  the  Mississippi  Territory,  in  1818. 
He  said :  "Persons  so  regardless  of  our  laws  as  those  engaged 
in  the  expedition  against  Pensacola  deserve  their  severest 
penalties,  and  you  may  rely  upon  my  exertions  to  bring  them 
to  punishment."^'' 

Calhoun,  Crawford's  colleague  in  the  Cabinet  as  Secretary 
of  War,  wrote  to  Tait  palliating  the  conduct  of  Jackson  and 
upholding  the  course  of  the  Administration.-"* 

But  there  was  evidently  trouble  ahead  in  Alabama  for  those 
who  did  not  uphold  "The  General." 

■-'*  Mississippi  Transcripts,  W.  H.  Crawfoi-d  to  Gov.  Holmes,  April  22, 
1818. 

^s'  Tait  Papers,  J.  C.  Calhoun  to  C.  Tait,  Sept.  5,  1818. 


Chapter  VI. 


THE  PUBLIC  LANDS 

As  previously  stated,  when  the  War  of  1812  and  the  blockade 
of  our  coast  cut  off  cotton  from  its  British  market,  the  price 
fell  to  a  low  figure  in  America,  while  it  rose  in  England.  With 
the  return  of  peace,  this  condition  was  reversed.  English  mills 
bought  heavily  to  make  up  for  lost  time,  and  the  price  went  up 
with  a  bound,  averaging  nearly  thirty  cents  a  pound  for  1816. 
This  situation  would  hardly  have  been  expected  to  last,  and  the 
next  year  the  market  fell  off  to  an  average  of  about  twenty- 
seven  cents.  At  these  figures  the  production  of  the  staple  was 
distinctly  profitable,  and  planters  began  to  move  out  in  large 
numbers  to  the  new  lands  in  Alabama.  But  1818  proved  to 
be  an  exceptional  year.  Instead  of  continuing  to  fall  off,  the 
price  of  cotton  now  rose  to  the  unprecedented  average  of 
about  thirty-four  cents  a  pound. ^  A  rush  to  the  western 
lands  resulted  and  prices  ranging  from  fifty  to  a  hundred 
dollars  an  acre  were  paid  for  farms  lying  in  a  virgin  wilder- 
ness. 

The  monetary  situation  of  the  country  was  such  as  to  favor 
the  spirit  of  speculation  that  set  in.  There  had  been  a  gen- 
eral suspension  of  specie  payments  during  the  War  and  the 
currency  of  the  country  had  fallen  into  great  disorder.  Many 
of  the  bank  notes  that  circulated  were  of  uncertain  value  and 
much  inconvenience  was  caused  by  their  use.  Largely  in 
order  to  remedy  this  state  of  affairs,  the  second  Bank  of  the 
United  States  was  chartered  in  1816.  It  was  to  go  into  op- 
eration early  in  1817,  and  a  resolution  was  passed  that  the 
Government  would  receive  only  specie-paying  paper  after 
February  20th.  In  order  to  effect  resumption,  the  banks  of 
issue  had  to  cut  down  their  circulation,  but  the  object  was  ac- 
complished, and  by  February  specie  payment  had  been  re- 
stored.2 

The  reduction  in  the  number  of  notes  in  circulation  which 
accompanied  the  resumption  of  specie  payments  would  nat- 
urally have  tended  to  retard  speculation;  but  the  temptation 

1  Atlas  of  American  Agriculture,  cotton  section,  20. 
-  Dewey,  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  151. 


THE  PUBLIC  LANDS  51 

of  the  western  cotton  lands  was  too  great  to  be  denied,  and 
means  were  found  to  overcome  the  difficulty.  In  the  first 
place,  the  management  of  the  new  bank  of  the  United  States 
was  reckless,  and  its  notes  were  turned  loose  largely  in  the 
South"  to  be  invested  by  the  speculators.  But  more  impor- 
tant than  this,  about  seventy  local  banks  were  founded  in  Ten- 
nessee and  Kentucky  in  1818.^  These  institutions  had  troubl- 
ed careers,  but  their  notes  remained  good  long  enough  to 
make  the  first  payment  on  Government  lands. 

Yet  another  resource  was  open  to  many  of  those  who  wish- 
ed to  purchase  land  in  Alabama.  The  five  million  dollars  in 
scrip  which  had  been  issued  to  the  Yazoo  claimants  was  re- 
deemable only  in  payments  for  lands  in  the  Georgia  cession  ;"• 
and  since  no  new  Indian  concessions  had  been  obtained  within 
Mississippi,  the  first  chance  afforded  the  Yazoo  men  for  re- 
deeming their  scrip  was  at  the  Alabama  sales  of  1817  and 
1818.  The  greater  part  of  it  was  turned  in  at  this  time  to  make 
the  first  payments  on  purchases,  and  it  added  much  to  the 
frenzy  of  speculation. 

Land  sales  during  this  period  were  made  under  the  act  of 
1800,  as  extended  and  amended  in  1803  and  1804."  It  was 
provided  that  the  public  domain  should  be  surveyed  by  mark- 
ing it  off  into  townships  six  miles  square,  and  the  townships 
subdivided  into  thirty-six  square  miles  or  sectiors.  A  quarter- 
section,  or  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  was  the  smallest  tract 
which  could  be  sold. 

Having  been  surveyed,  the  land  was  advertised  for  sale  at 
public  auctions  which  were  held  at  the  offices  established  in 
the  various  land  districts.  Tracts  were  sold  to  the  highest 
bidder,  and  those  remaining  unsold  might  be  entered  private- 
ly at  the  minimum  price  of  two  dollars  an  acre.  In  either 
case,  one-fourth  of  the  purchase  money  had  to  be  paid  at  the 
time  of  the  sale,  and  the  remaining  three-fourths  in  annual 
installments  of  one-fourth  each. 

The  surveys  in  the  Creek  cession  were  begun  in  1816,'  and 
speculators  at  once  began  making  investigations.  .  A.  P. 
Hayne  made  a  tour  of  the  lands  to  be  put  upon  the  market 
and  wrote  to  Andrew  Jackson  giving  a  favorable  account  of. 


•A  Ibid.,  153. 

-<  Annals  of  Congress,  16  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  233. 

■  Statutes  at  Large,  III,  116-117. 

'■'Treat,  The  Natiowil  Land  System,  111-112,  120-121. 

"  Jackson  Papers,  Thos.  Freeman  to  Andrew  Jackson,  April  12,  1816. 


52  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

the  rich  river  and  prairie  tracts. "^  Jackson  wrote  to  a  friend 
in  Washington  to  inquire  as  to  the  price  of  the  Yazoo  scrip 
and  found  that  it  had  risen  from  forty  to  sixty-eight  dollars.^ 
Companies  were  formed  for  participation  at  the  auctions, 
and  Hayne  wrote  that  "speculation  in  land  is  superior  to  Law 
or  Physic."'" 

The  first  sale  took  place  at  Milledgeville,  Georgia,  in  Au- 
gust, 1817,  and  comprised  a  tract  lying  along  the  headwaters 
of  the  Alabama  River  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  present  city 
of  Montgomery."  Only  the  best  river  bottom  tracts  were  dis- 
posed of  at  this  time,  and  these  were  taken  up  by  speculators 
from  various  places.  The  men  who  had  moved  into  the  re- 
gion were  generally  too  poor  to  make  their  way  to  the  place 
of  sale,  and  they  had  little  hope  of  being  able  to  compete  with 
the  wealthier  purchasers.'-  Sales  during  this  year  amounted 
to  nearly  $800,000,  and  the  new  tracts  in  the  same  region 
which  were  offered  in  1818  brought  the  sales  of  that  year  up 
to  nearly  a  million  dollars. '=*  Almost  nothing  but  river  bot- 
tom lands  were  sold  at  Milledgevile  during  these  two  years,^* 
and  there  were  few  actual  settlers  among  the  purchasers. 

The  most  coveted  bit  of  land  that  was  disposed  of  at  this 
time  lay  within  a  wide  bend  of  the  Alabama  River  and  upon 
a  bluff  which  formed  the  opposite  bank.  The  soil  in  the  bend 
was  of  the  best  quality,  and  the  bluff  afforded  an  excellent 
site  for  a  town.  Members  of  the  Bibb  family  were  anxious  to 
purchase  here,  and  so  was  A.  P.  Hayne,  who  wrote  to  Jackson 
concerning  the  matter.'"^  A  land  company,  of  which  William 
Wyatt  Bibb  was  a  member,  secured  the  tracts,  and  the  town 
of  Montgomery  was  founded  upon  the  bluff  in  1819."*' 

Though  these  sales  were  the  most  extensive  that  had  taken 
place  up  to  that  time,  they  were  small  in  comparison  with 
those  which  were  held  in  Huntsville  in  1818.  All  the  lands 
lying  west  of  Madison  County,  on  both  sides  of  the  Tennessee 
River,  were  offered  for  sale  in  that  year,'"  and  the  amount 


8  Ibid.,  A.  P.  Hayne  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Nov.  27,  1816. 

0  Ibid.,  D.  Parker  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Jan.  6,  1817. 

!•>  Jackson  Papers.  A.  P.  Hayne  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Nov.  27,  1816. 

"  L.  O.  Record  of  Proclamations,  May  24,  1817. 

12  Jackson  Papers,  A.  P.  Hayne  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Aug.  5,  1817. 

13  American  State  Papers,  Lands,  V,  384-385. 

14  Tract  Book  of  Montgomery  County,  Office  of     the     Secretary     of 
State,  Montgomery,  Ala. 

16  Jackson  Papers,  A.  P.  Hayne  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Aug.  5,  1817. 

16  Meek  MS.,  Early  Settlement  of  Alabama,  1815-1819. 

17  L.  O.,  Record  of  Proclamations,  Nov.  1,  1817  and  March  31,  1818. 


THE  PUBLIC  LANDS  53 

sold  reached  a  value  of  seven  million  dollars.  Out  of  the  sum 
of  about  one  and  a  half  million  which  was  paid  down  upon 
the  purchases,  over  a  million  was  in  Yazoo  scrip,  or  "Missis- 
sippi stock,"  as  it  was  called. 

A  speculating-  company,  composed  of  men  from  Virginia, 
Georgia,  Kentucky,  and  Madison  County  was  formed.  Prom- 
inent Tennesseeans  bid  against  this  combine  and  prices  were 
run  up  to  figures  ranging  between  fifty  and  a  hundred  dollars 
an  acre.  Average  cotton  land  sold  at  prices  between  twenty 
and  thirty  dollars. i'' 

The  excitement  caused  by  the  sales  was  nation-wide.  Men 
came  from  every  part  of  the  country  to  participate  in  them. 
A  company  was  formed  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  for  the 
purpose  of  buying  acreage  in  Alabama,  and  Stephen  Elliott 
was  sent  out  to  make  the  purchases.-'^  Much  swindling  went  on 
during  the  sales.  A  company  of  speculators  would  combine, 
and,  by  a  show  of  force,  intimidate  their  competitors  and  bid 
off  large  tracts  of  desirable  land  at  low  prices.  They  would 
then  sell  out  at  a  considerable  gain  to  those  who  had  not  been 
able  to  compete  with  them.  It  is  stated  on  good  authority 
that  one  such  association  of  swindlers  cleared  $1,980  each  on 
a  transaction  of  this  kind.-^  The  situation  became  so  notori- 
ous that  the  Government  authorized  its  agents  to  bid  against 
the  combinations  when  they  thought  it  advisable.^- 

No  such  extent  of  fine  lands  was  ever  again  offered  for 
sale  in  Alabama  during  a  single  year,  but  in  1819  large  areas 
along  the  Alabama  River  below  Montgomery  County  were 
put  upon  the  market.  The  land  office  for  this  district  had 
now  been  moved  from  Milledgeville  to  Cahawba,  and  the 
sales  here  amounted  to  nearly  three  million  dollars  during 
the  year. 

By  the  time  the  credit  system  of  sales  was  abolished  in  1820, 
Alabama  had,  in  all,  amassed  a  land  debt  of  eleven  million 
dollars,  or  more  than  half  the  total  for  the  entire  Country.23 
And  in  the  meantime  the  price  of  cotton  had  gone  down  to 
eighteen  cents;  the  country  was  in  the  throes  of  commercial 
depression ;  and  the  prospect  of  paying  for  the  lands  which 


18  American  State  Papers,  Lands,  V,  384-385. 

19  Jackson  Papers,  Jno.  Coffee  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Feb.  12,  1818. 

20  Record  of  Deeds,  Dallas  County,  D,  305. 

21  Niles'  Register,  XVI,  192;   St.  Stephens  Halcyon,  Oct.     11,     1819; 
Alabama  Republican,  May  1,  1818. 

22  American  State  Papers,  Lands,  V,  378-380,  513. 

23  Ibid.,  645. 


54  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

had  been  bought  at  abnormal  prices  became  almost  hopeless. 
Such  a  state  of  affairs  prompted  Congress  to  discontinue 
the  policy  of  credit  sales.  In  1820  it  was  provided  that  half 
quarter-sections  might  be  sold,  that  the  minimum  price  should 
be  $1.25  an  acre,  and  that  all  payments  should  be  in  cash.  The 
system  of  public  auctions  followed  by  private  entry  was  con- 
tinued.-'^ 

But  something  had  to  be  done  for  those  who  had  already 
fallen  into  debt  beyond  hope  of  recovery,  and  this  problem 
was  attacked  in  1821.  It  was  provided  that  land  which  had 
been  purchased  but  not  completely  paid  for  might  be  relin- 
quished and  the  sum  paid  on  it  applied  on  the  balance  due  for 
lands  which  were  retained.  In  addition  to  this,  the  balance 
due  on  lands  retained  was  to  be  reduced  by  thirty-seven  and 
a  half  per  cent,  and  an  extension  of  credit  to  be  granted.-'' 
Large  numbers  took  advantage  of  this  act,  and  within  a  year 
the  land  debt  of  Alabama  was  reduced  by  half.  Those  who  did 
not  take  advantage  of  it  were  later  given  a  further  chance  to 
do  so,  and  by  1825  the  debt  had  been  decreased  to  about  three 
and  a  half  million  dollars.-*' 

Yet  the  consequences  of  the  speculation  of  1818  and  1819 
were  not  so  easily  overcome.  The  men  who  relinquished  their 
land  under  the  act  of  1821  did  not  consider  that  they  were  giv- 
ing up  their  right  to  it.  They  continued  to  live  upon  and  cul- 
tivate it,  and  expected  to  be  able  to  buy  it  back  some  day  un- 
der favorable  arrangements  which  they  looked  to  Congress  to 
make.  Thus  the  community  was  injured  by  the  presence  of 
a  large  number  of  farmers  who  were  mere  tenants  by  com- 
mon consent.  The  unsettled  condition  of  such  men  was  dis- 
turbing to  the  whole  system  of  rural  economy.  By  1828 
about  three  and  a  quarter  million  out  of  the  twenty-four  mil- 
lion acres  of  public  lands  in  Alabama  were  sold,  and  nearly  half 
as  much  had  been  relinquished.-'  The  extent  of  the  evil  can  be 
imagined. 

In  the  natural  course  of  events,  the  relinquished  lands  would 
be  put  on  the  market  again  at  auction  sale,  and  here  the  re- 
linquisher would  have  to  compete  with  all  comers  for  fields 
that  he  had  owned  and  cleared  and  still  cultivated.  The  spir- 
it of  the  community  was  in  sympathy  with  the  relinquisher. 


24  statutes  at  Large,  III,  566. 

-T.  Ibid.,  Ill,  612-614. 

.;«  American  State  Papers,  IV,  795. 

2"  American  State  Papers,  Lands,  V,  513,  800. 


THE  PUBLIC  LANDS  55 

It  would  hardly  have  been  considered  honorable  to  bid  against 
him  for  lands  which  were  looked  on  as  his  by  natural  right. 
However,  there  were  many  sharpers  who  made  it  a  business 
to  prey  upon  those  who  had  made  improvements  upon  lands 
to  which  they  did  not  have  title.  It  was  their  practice  to  go 
to  the  interested  party  and  threaten  to  bid  against  him  unless 
he  should  make  terms.  An  agreement  was  generally  reached, 
and  the  settler  had  to  pay  the  sharper  about  as  much  as  he 
paid  the  Government  for  his  lands.^s 

The  same  situation  was  faced  by  others  than  the  relin- 
quishers. The  more  desirable  areas  in  the  State,  accessible 
to  river  communication,  were  the  first  to  be  surveyed  and 
sold.  Later  on,  the  more  inaccessible  areas  were  put  on  the 
market.  Where  men  of  small  means  had  come  into  Alabama 
and  settled  upon  desirable  lands  in  the  river  regions,  they 
were  frequently  unable  to  hold  them  when  they  were  put  up 
for  sale  at  auction.  It  became  necessary  for  these  people  to 
move  out  into  the  back  country  and  start  all  over  again,  but 
the  auctioneer  in  time  came  to  them  in  their  newer  homes. 
Here,  however,  the  situation  was  different.  The  speculative 
period  was  over  after  1819  and  lands  would  no  longer  bring 
abnormally  high  prices.  The  back  country  tracts,  being  rel- 
atively inaccessible,  would  not  command  prices  much 
above  the  statutory  minimum,  even  though  they  were  fertile, 
nor  would  a  man's  neighbor  bid  against  him  for  lands  which 
he  had  improved.  Consequently,  the  settler  in  the  hill  dis- 
tricts would  normally  have  been  able  to  buy  his  improved 
land  at  a  price  close  to  $1.25  an  acre  had  not  the  sharper  at- 
tacked him  in  the  same  manner  in  which  he  attacked  the  re- 
linquisher.-'-' Land  offices  were  established  in  Tuscaloosa  and 
Conecuh  Counties  in  1820,  and  men  who  had  not  yet  been  call- 
ed upon  to  prove  their  titles  began  to  fear  that  they  would  lose 
their  homes  in  the  competition  of  the  sales.  There  is  on  rec- 
ord the  case  of  a  preacher  in  Conecuh  County  who  was  forced 
by  swindlers  to  pay  $37.50  an  acre  for  the  privilege  of  buying 
his  lands  without  competition,  but  the  fraud  became  known 
to  the  Government,  the  sale  was  canceled,  and  the  preacher 
was  able  to  buy  in  his  land  at  the  minimum  price. •'^"  Public 
auctions  were  more  than  once  suspended  because  of  the  op- 
eration of  swindlers. 


2^  Soxithern  Advocate,  May  19,  1826. 

-'!)  Smith,  Pickens  County,  42-44;  Cahanba  Press,  Oct.  29.  1821. 

30  Riley,  Conecnh  Cotinty,  96. 


56  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

In  order  to  obviate  such  difficulties,  it  was  strongly  advo- 
cated in  Alabama  that  the  unsold  lands  be  divided  into  classes 
and  that  each  class  be  given  a  price  according  to  its  grade. 
Actual  settlers  were  to  be  allowed  to  enter  their  lands  at  the 
fixed  prices  and  thus  be  assured  in  the  tenure  of  their  fields 
and  their  homes.  This  was  especially  urged  in  regard  to  the 
relinquished  lands,  and  Alabama's  representatives  in  Wash- 
ington worked  for  the  adoption  of  the  plan  by  Congress,  but 
nothing  came  of  their  efforts.-"  There  was  adopted,  instead, 
an  act  which  permitted  those  who  had  relinquished  or  forfeit- 
ed lands  to  repurchase  them  at  a  reduction  of  thirty-seven  and 
a  half  per  cent,  on  the  original  price."*-  This  did  not  meet  the 
situation,  and  the  auction  continued  to  stare  the  settlers  in 
the  face. 

•■"  Alabama  Legislature,  House  Joux'nal,  182.'>,  96-97;  American  State 
Papers,  Lands,  IV,  .529;  Ibid.,  V,  380-382;  So-utheni  Adcocute,  April  28. 
June  23,  Sept.  29,  Oct.  6,  1826. 

"^  Statutes  at  Large,  IV,  158-159. 


Chapter  VII. 


AGRICULTURE 

By  1820  Alabama  had  attracted  a  population  of  over  125,- 
000,  black  and  white,  and  of  these  the  slaves  made  up  thirty- 
one  per  cent.  This  was  about  the  same  proportion  which  had 
existed  between  the  races  in  1816  when  Alabama  was  still  a 
part  of  Mississippi  Territory  and  contained  but  two  widely- 
separated  settlements.  By  1830  the  population  had  swelled 
beyond  300,000  and  the  per  cent,  of  slaves  had  gradually  risen 
from  thirty-one  to  thirty-eight.  ^  So  that  during  this  period 
of  rapid  immigration  and  the  planting  of  the  cotton  kingdom 
in  the  lower  South,  there  were  about  two  white  men  coming  in 
for  every  slave  that  entered.  If  the  whites  averaged  five  to 
the  family  and  the  slaves  ten  to  the  master,  but  one  family  in 
four  could  have  been  of  the  slave-holding  class. 

Whereas,  during  this  early  period,  the  population  was  in- 
clined to  spread  over  the  face  of  the  country,  there  was  a 
striking  segregation  of  the  slave  population  into  certain  dis- 
tricts. In  1830  there  was  but  one  county  in  the  State  (Madi- 
son) with  over  16,000  population,  and  but  seven  of  the  most 
barren  had  less  than  4,000.  The  counties  which  attracted  the 
heaviest  population  were  those  of  the  Tennessee  Valley  and 
those  of  the  region  of  clay  ridges  which  skirts  the  hilly  district 
of  the  northeastern  part  of  the  State. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  slave  population  was  very  largely 
confined  to  the  counties  of  the  Tennessee  Valley  and  to  those 
lying  along  the  navigable  portions  of  the  Alabama  and  Tom- 
bigbee  Rivers.  The  river  bottom  lands  were  the  most  highly 
prized  by  the  cotton  planters  because  of  their  great  fertility, 
but  these  were  of  limited  extent,  and  recourse  had  to  be  had 
to  the  ridge  lands  lying  along  the  courses  of  the  rivers.  It  is 
notable  that  the  prairie  region,  or  Black  Belt,  which  came  lat- 
er to  be  so  highly  esteemed  for  cotton  culture,  was  avoided  by 


1  In  addition  to  the  U.  S.  Census  of  1820  and  1830,  we  have  that  tak- 
en by  the  Mississippi  Territory  in  181^ (Am.  State  Papers,  Misc.,  11,408)  ; 
the  census  of  Alabama  Territory  taken  in  1818  (Walker  Papers)  ;  and 
those  taken  by  the  State  of  Alabama  in  1824  (Huntsville  Democrat, 
Nov.  22,  1824),  and  1827   (Huntsville  Devwcrat,  Dec.  14,  1827). 


58  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

the  planters  before  1830  because  they  had  not  learned  how  to 
master  the  difficulties  of  the  sticky  soil.-  In  selecting  his  site, 
the  planter  had  to  consider  communications  as  well  as  fertili- 
ty of  soil ;  and  continuity  of  fields  also  counted  for  something. 
All  these  factors  combined  to  make  the  river  valleys  the 
slave  sections  of  the  State  before  1830. 

How  soon  cotton  culture  came  to  be  an  established  industry 
in  Alabama  cannot  be  stated  with  accuracy.  The  staple  is  said 
to  have  been  produced  to  some  extent  as  early  as  1772,3  and  by 
1807  it  had  come  largely  to  supplant  indigo  in  the  agriculture 
of  the  Tombigbee  region.^  It  is  fairly  clear  that  the  Georgians 
who  came  to  Madison  County  in  1809  came  for  the  purpose  of 
planting  cotton,  and  it  is  stated  that  the  crop  of  that  country 
in  1816  amounted  to  ten  thousand  bales.^'  Certainly  by  the  time 
of  the  great  immigration  in  1817  and  1818  the,  economic  pros- 
pects of  Alabama  must  have  been  clear  to  practically  all  who 
entered.  Yet,  Darby,  in  his  Emigrant's  Guide  of  1818,  states 
that  extensive  vineyards  would  be  planted  upon  the  dry  slopes 
of  the  Alabama  if  ever  anywhere  in  the  United  States,  and 
that  the  olive  would  find  a  congenial  soil  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Alabama,  Cahawba,  Coosa,  and  Tallapoosa  Rivers.''  That  this 
view  was  seriously  entertained  at  that  time  is  proven  by  the 
attempt  of  the  ill-fated  colony  of  Napoleonic  refugees  to  bring 
forth  the  grapes  and  olives  of  southern  France  on  the  banks 
of  the  Tombigbee  in  1817."  It  was  probably  their  failure 
which  precluded  further  earnest  attempts  along  that  line, 
but  when  cotton  prospects  were  gloomy,  there  were  not  want- 
ing those  who  would  urge  experiments  with  other  crops. 
Grapes,  sugar  cane,  and  small  grain  were  all  suggested  at  dif- 
ferent times,*^  and  limited  experiments  were  made  with  each. 
But  Alabama  was  to  have  but  two  predominant  systems  of  ag- 
riculture :  that  of  the  planter  who  raised  cotton,  with  corn  as 
his  subsidiary  crop ;  and  that  of  the  small  farmer  who  raised 
corn  with  cotton  subsidiary. 


2  This  view  is  based  partly  on  charts  made  from  the  tract  books  of 
Clarke,  Montp:omery,  Dallas,  and  Perry  Counties. 

3  Pickett,  History  of  Alabama,  32.5. 

4  Ibid.,  503. 

•'■'  Wyman,  Geographical  Sketch  of  Alabama  in  Alabama  Historical 
Society,  Transactions,  III,  126. 

•>  Darby,  Emigrant's  Guide,  33. 

"  See  Pickett's  History  of  Alabama,  Chap.  XLV. 

f^  Southern  Advocate,  July  1,  1825;  Alabam,a  Journal,  Sept.  15,  1826; 
Mobile  Register,  Dec.  1,  1827,  Jan.  8,  1828,  April  15,  1828,  May  17,  1828, 
Oct.  8,  1828;  Southern  Agncvlturist  (from  the  Alabama  Journal),  I,  379. 


AGRICULTURE  59 

When  the  planter  with  money  to  invest  and  slaves  to  work 
decided  to  come  out  to  Alabama,  he  often  made  a  tour  of  in- 
vestigation, or  at  least  wrote  to  friends  in  the  new  country 
asking  for  advice  as  to  conditions.  He  could  not  afford  to 
take  unnecessary  chances.  He  needed  to  know  where  good 
lands  were  located  and  what  were  the  chances  of  buying  at 
a  fair  price.  The  first  Madison  County  lands  to  be  disposed 
of  were  offered  for  sale  at  the  Nashville  land  office,  and  the 
first  lands  sold  along  the  upper  Alabama  were  auctioned  at 
Milledgeville,  Georgia.  Land  offices  were  later  established 
at  Huntsville  and  Cahawba,  in  addition  to  the  one  which  had 
been  put  in  operation  at  St.  Stephens  at  an  early  date,  so  that 
all  but  the  very  first  sales  in  these  districts  were  made  within 
the  State.  Yet,  it  is  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  many  men 
with  a  planter's  capital  at  stake  would  have  sold  out  their  old 
homes  and  moved  westward  without  first  having  purchased 
their  land. 

Having  arrived  upon  his  new  estate,  it  did  not  take  the 
planter  long  to  establish  himself.  With  plenty  of  labor,  the 
ground  was  soon  cleared,  or  the  first  crop  might  be  planted 
after  the  trees  had  merely  been  deadened  by  girdling.  A  house 
for  the  master's  family  was  built  of  logs,  and  the  routine  of 
plantation  life  was  resumed  as  well  as  the  crude  conditions 
permitted.** 

The  log  house,  so  typical  of  a  frontier  community,  was  not 
an  ephemeral  thing.  It  remained  the  standard  of  domestic 
architecture  in  the  more  isolated  sections  and  was  sometimes 
adhered  to  from  inertia  or  sentimental  reasons  by  men  who 
could  easily  have  afforded  more  modern  quarters.  It  was 
not  long,  however,  before  the  average  planter  replaced  his 
log  structure  with  one  of  boards.  The  typical  Southern  "man- 
sion house,"  with  its  generous  veranda  and  stately  white  col- 
umns, arose  throughout  the  cotton  region.  Hodgson,  on  enter- 
ing the  Montgomery  district  in  1820,  was  impressed  by  the  fine 
appearance  of  the  plantations,!^  and  Saxe- Weimar,  traversing 
the  same  ground  six  years  later,  not  only  speaks  in  general 
terms,  but  comments  upon  the  handsome  dwellings,  ^i 

In  general  appearance,  the  homes  of  the  Southwestern 
planters  resembled  those  of  the     Virginia     colonists.     They 

»  See  Phillips,  Negro  Slavery,  Chap.  X,  for  an  account  of  the  west- 
ward movement  of  the  cotton  planter. 

">  Hodgson,  Letters  from  North  America,  I,  39. 
11  Saxe- Weimar,  I,  30-31. 


60  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

were  white,  two-storied  buildings  of  classical  proportions, 
with  broad  verandas  and  gigantic  columns.  But  a  different 
spirit  showed  itself  in  plan  and  execution.  Instead  of  a  well- 
knit  structure  with  architectural  finish,  there  was  a  rambling 
house  with  a  suggestion  of  unnecessary  space.  The  differ- 
ence, it  would  seem,  was  due  primarily  to  the  shaping  influ- 
ence of  the  log  cabin.  The  simple  cabin,  consisting  of  two 
rooms  joined  by  a  wide  passage-way,  having  only  a  floor  be- 
low and  a  roof  above,  accustomed  the  pioneer  to  architecture 
embodying  generous  open-air  passages.  The  planter  started 
his  new  career  in  such  a  house,  but  sometimes  amplified  it  in- 
to a  dwelling  of  from  four  to  eight  rooms,  keeping  to  the  same 
materials  and  method  of  construction  throughout.  Finally, 
when  he  came  to  put  up  his  frame  house,  he  followed  the  old 
lines  of  internal  arrangement.  Crossing  the  veranda  with  its 
tall  columns,  one  entered  a  spacious  hallway  which  served 
no  particular  purpose,  but  merely  carried  out  the  idea  of  the 
open  passage  between  the  rooms  of  the  log  cabin.  The  spa- 
cious rooms  which  flanked  the  hall  on  either  side  were  almost 
invariably  square  and  regular  in  design,  just  as  they  must 
have  been  had  they  been  built  of  logs.  And  the  plan  upstairs 
was  the  same  as  below.^^ 

But  the  plantation  was  much  more  than  a  house  and  lands ; 
being,  if  it  chose  to  be,  largely  independent  of  the  outside  world 
for  its  daily  supplies,  it  was  a  community  in  itself.  Grouped 
about  the  "mansion"  were  the  barns,  the  smoke-house  where 
pork  was  cured,  the  cotton  gin  and  press,  and  the  quarters  for 
the  slaves.  Places  were  frequently  advertised  for  sale  in  the 
early  newspapers,  and  from  these  advertisements  we  get  an 
interesting  description  of  the  equipment  of  a  plantation  in 
houses,  barns,  cattle,  mules,  swine,  and  slaves.' ^ 

12  This  is  the  writer's  interpretation  of  the  facts,  but  the  general  idea 
is  completely  borne  out  by  the  following  passage  from  Stuart's  Three 
Years  in  North  Am-erica,  11,  160:  "The  planters'  houses  in  the  southern 
states  are  very  different  in  their  mode  of  construction  from  those  in  the 
north.  The  common  form  of  the  planters'  houses,  and  indeed  of  all  hous- 
es that  you  meet  with  on  the  roadside  in  this  country,  is  two  square  pens, 
with  an  open  space  between  them,  connected  by  a  roof  above  and  a  floor 
below,  so  as  to  form  a  parallelogram  of  nearly  triple  the  length  of  its 
depth.  In  the  open  space  the  family  take  their  meals  during  the  fine 
weather.  The  kitchen  and  the  places  for  slaves  are  all  separate  build- 
ings, as  are  the  stable,  cow-houses,  etc.  About  ten  buildings  of  this  de- 
scription make  up  the  establishment  of  an  ordinary  planter,  with  half  a 
dozen  slaves." 

"i^' Alabama  Republican,  Nov.  14,  1823;  Cahawba  Press,  Dec.  20,  1823, 
Jan.  7,  1826;  St.  Stephens  Halcyon,  May  1,  1820. 


AGRICULTURE  61 

Slaves  were  rated,  according  to  their  fitness,  full,  three- 
quarters,  half,  and  quarter  hands,  and  given  tasks  according- 
ly. Adding  these  fractions,  a  planter  determined  how  many 
"full  hands,"  or  equivalents,  made  up  his  working  force.  A 
census  of  Madison  County  for  1819  gives  nearly  twelve  acres 
of  cleared  land  for  every  full  hand,^^  and  other  evidences  make 
it  clear  that  each  hand  rated  at  full  work  was  expected  to  cul- 
tivate five  or  six  acres  of  cotton  and  an  equal  area  in  corn.^-^ 

There  were  several  reasons  for  devoting  the  land  in  nearly 
equal  parts  to  cotton  and  corn.  A  gang  of  hands  could  plant 
more  cotton  than  they  could  possibly  pick,  so  that  a  part  of 
their  time  had  to  be  devoted  to  some  other  crop,  and  corn  had 
a  peculiar  place  in  the  economy  of  the  plantation.  The  week- 
ly allowance  of  bread-stuff  to  the  slave  was  a  peck  of  meal, 
and  this,  together  with  his  allowance  of  pork — the  supply  of 
which  article  was  also  dependent  on  the  corn  crop — made  up 
the  regular  fare  of  the  working  force.  The  slaves  usually 
had  garden  plots  of  their  own,  and  could  sometimes  add  fish 
or  game  to  their  diet  by  hunting  or  fishing  in  spare  time.  The 
watermelon  and  the  'possum  were  favorites  then  as  now,  but 
corn  and  pork  was  the  regular  fare  during  the  twelve  months 
of  the  year.i^ 

Clothing  was  issued  twice  yearly,  in  the  spring  and  in  the 
fall.  Suits  of  "osnaburg,"  or  coarse  cotton  clothing,  were 
provided  for  the  summer,  and  "plains,"  or  coarse  woolen  stuff 
for  the  winter.  Hats,  shoes,  and  blankets  completed  the  list 
of  articles  which  had  to  be  furnished  by  the  master.  Medical 
attention  was  provided  for  the  sick  and  nurseries  for  the  chil- 
dren of  mothers  who  went  to  the  field.  Altogether,  the  main- 
tenance of  a  slave  for  a  year,  including  his  food  allowance, 
his  clothing,  blankets,  and  medical  attention,  cost  between 
twenty  and  twenty-five  dollars.^" 

Judicious  farming  required  that  the  master  produce  all  his 
own  corn  and  pork,  but,  especially  when  the  price  of  cotton 
was  high,  he  was  likely  to  increase  his  crop  of  the  staple  and 
buy  corn  in  the  market.^ '^     This  kind  of  speculative  planting 

1^  Alabama  Republican,  Aug.  25,  1820. 

i-">Wyman,  Geographical  Sketch  of  Alabama  in  Alabama  Historical 
Society,  Transactions,  III,  126:  Amencan  Farmer.  Ill,  299;  Jackson  Pa- 
pers, A.  P.  Hf»vne  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Aug.  6,  1820. 

!•■•  Phillips,  Negro  Slaver}/,  Chan.  XV. 

I'ylmerican  Farmei',  IV,  .308-9.  See  al.so  Phillips,  Negro  Slavery, 
Chap.  XV. 

i«  Walker  Papers,  C.  Tait  to  J.  W.  Walker,  Nov.  19,  1819. 


62  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

was  not  only  bad  from  an  economic  point  of  view,  but  tended 
to  over-work  the  slaves  during  the  picking  season.  For  the 
small  farmer,  excessive  cotton  planting  meant  that  his  family 
was  put  on  short  rations.'-'  But  such  practices  as  this  seem 
to  have  been  common  during  the  early,  speculative  period  of 
the  industry  in  the  State.  Though  periods  of  low  prices  op- 
erated to  check  this  over-planting  of  cotton,  it  is  certainly  true 
that  during  the  early  'twenties,  a  large  quantity  of  corn  and 
pork  was  imported  from  other  states  by  the  planters,  and 
many  complaints  were  made  about  it  by  the  agricultural  crit- 
ics. 

There  seems  to  have  been  little  difference  between  the 
methods  employed  in  the  culture  of  cotton  and  of  corn,  but 
naturally  that  of  cotton  received  more  attention.  The 
agricultural  year  began  about  the  middle  of  February,  when 
the  first  plowing  could  be  done.  All  the  old  cotton  and  corn 
stalks  were  gathered  and  burned,  and  the  ground  was  bedded 
up  by  running  one  furrow  and  then  lapping  several  others 
upon  it.     This  process  was  called  "listing." 

During  March  the  cotton  was  planted  by  running  a  drill 
down  the  center  of  the»beds  and  sowing  the  cotton  rather 
thickly  in  the  drill.  The  seeds  were  covered  by  attaching  a 
board  with  a  concave  surface  to  a  plow  and  drawing  it 
along  the  crest  of  the  bed.  When  the  young  cotton  was  well 
above  the  ground,  the  stand  was  thinned  with  the  hoe,  leaving 
but  two  stalks  in  a  place.  Later,  another  thinning  reduced 
the  stand  to  a  single  stalk  in  a  place.  The  distance  between 
the  beds  and  between  the  stalks  in  the  bed  varied  according 
to  the  fertility  of  the  soil  or  the  caprice  of  the  planter.  Three 
and  a  half  feet  between  beds  and  eight  inches  between  stalks 
was  given  as  a  fair  average  for  the  Tennessee  Valley.'-*^ 

Frequent  cultivation  was  necessary  in  order  to  keep  down 
the  grass  and  weeds,  and  this  was  done  partly  by  the  plow 
and  partly  by  the  hoe.  That  crops  were  usually  kept  in  very 
good  condition  is  indicated  by  the  favorable  comments  of  trav- 
elers into  the  cotton  region.  The  bolls  began  to  open  the  lat- 
ter part  of  August,  but  they  fruited  gradually,  and  had  to 
be  picked  often  in  order  to  prevent  damage  to  the  fibre.  This 

"*  Hodgson,  Letters  front  North  America,  I,  206-207. 

20  American  Farmer,  VIII,  222-223,  quoting  a  letter  from  John  Pope, 
of  Florence,  Alabama,  dated  Sept.  29,  1826;  Sonthern  Agriculturist,  II, 
255;  Hamntond,  Cotton  Industry,  16-11;  Fessenden,  Complete  Farmer^ 
263-265. 


AGRICULTURE  63 

was  the  busiest  time  of  the  year  and  all  available  help  was 
called  in.  The  picking  went  on  steadily  through  the  fall 
months  and  well  into  the  winter.  Sometimes  a  part  of  the 
crop  was  still  in  the  field  and  had  to  be  destroyed  when  the 
time  for  spring  plowing  arrived.-' 

Ginning  was  also  a  slow  process  compared  with  modern 
methods.  Every  planter  of  any  importance  had  his  own  gin- 
house  where  his  staple  was  prepared  for  the  market.  If 
properly  prepared,  the  cotton  had  to  be  carefully  picked  over 
by  hand  for  the  removal  of  trash  and  yellow  flakes  before  it 
went  to  the  gin ;  and  after  coming  from  the  machine,  it  al- 
ways had  in  it  particles  of  seed  and  other  foreign  matter 
which  had  to  be  removed  by  another  picking  over,  or  moting. 
The  ginned  cotton  was  taken  to  the  press  where  it  was  squeez- 
ed into  bales  of  about  350  pounds.  The  gin  and  the  press 
were  both  run  by  horse  power,  and  several  hands  were  kept 
busy  at  the  work.-- 

During  the  decade,  however,  two  important  advances  were 
made  in  the  processes  of  preparing  cotton.  In  1822  Carver's 
improved  gin  was  introduced  in  Mississippi  and  its  advantages 
were  noised  abroad  in  the  agricultural  papers.  It  was  claim- 
ed that  the  new  machine  did  not  tear  the  fibre  while  removing 
it  from  the  seed,  and  that  the  quality  of  the  staple  was  there- 
by much  improved.  James  Jackson  and  General  Coffee  intro- 
duced the  new  gin  into  the  Tennessee  Valley,  and  the  cotton 
which  they  turned  out  with  it  was  said  to  be  of  unusual  qual- 
ity.2«  In  1824  the  first  supply  of  these  machines  was  receiv- 
ed at  Mobile.-^ 

At  about  the  same  time  there  was  contrived  and  introduced 
in  Mississippi  an  apparatus  for  moting  the  cotton  as  it  came 
from  the  gin.  In  Whitney's  gin  the  cotton  fibre  was  removed 
from  the  seed  by  means  of  revolving  saw-teeth,  and  re- 
volving brushes  removed  the  fibre  from  the  saws.  The 
arms  of  the  revolving  brushes  were  now  supplied  with  fans 
which  blew  the  issuing  cotton  through  a  horizontal  wooden 

-1  Royall,  Letters  from  Alabama,  62. 

22  An  excellent  description  of  the  method  of  preparing  cotton  for  mar- 
ket was  furnished  the  Nashville  Agricidtunat  by  Alexander  McDonald, 
of  Eufaula,  Alabama,  in  1845.  It  is  reprinted  in  Sen.  Doc,  1  Sess.,  29 
Cong.,  Vol.  VI,  No.  ."07.  Thouarh  this  is  later  than  the  period  under  dis- 
■cussion,  it  gives  a  clear  idea  of  the  problems  and  metheds  of  ginning 
^nd  packing  cotton  on  a  plantation. 

23  Alabama  Rejmblican,  Feb.  15,  1822,  Mar.  22,  1822. 
24  Mobile  Register,  March  26,  1824. 


64  THK  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

flue  with  a  latticed  bottom.  As  the  lint  passed  through  the 
flue,  the  particles  of  foreign  matter  dropped  through  the 
grating  into  a  trough  below.  Thus  a  large  part  of  the  labor 
of  moting  was  dispensed  with.-' 

The  ginning  and  packing  of  cotton  was  a  matter  of  great 
importance,  for  the  market  value  of  the  staple  depended 
largely  upon  its  freedom  from  flaws  and  foreign  matter. 
Many  complaints  were  made  as  to  the  carelessness  with  which 
the  Alabama  planters  handled  their  product.  It  was  stated 
that,  while  the  staple  of  the  Alabama  cotton  was  as  good  as 
that  of  any  upland  variety,  it  brought  a  lower  price  than  that 
of  either  Georgia  or  Louisiana  because  of  the  indifferent  way 
in  which  it  was  ginned  and  handled.-'-  The  truth  of  this 
statement  is,  however,  hard  to  judge.  Louisiana  and  Mississ- 
ippi cotton  consistently  brought  a  higher  price  than  that  of 
Alabama.  That  of  south  Alabama  and  Georgia  stood  on  a 
fairly  equal  footing,  while  that  of  Tennessee  and  north  Ala- 
bama usually  brought  the  lowest  price.  The  adaptability  of 
climate  and  soil  to  the  cotton  crop  in  these  several  localities 
was  undoubtedly  the  prime  factor  in  these  distinctions,  but 
it  is  quite  likely  that  there  was  also  a  difference  in  agricul- 
tural methods.  As  far  as  Alabama  is  concerned,  the  people 
who  moved  into  the  southern  part  of  the  state  came  chiefly 
from  sections  in  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  where  the 
planting  of  cotton  was  already  familiar  and  well-established. 
Those  who  moved  into  the  Tennessee  Valley  came  in  greater 
numbers  from  Tennessee,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina, 
where  cotton  had  never  been  of  importance. 

Alabama  writers,  and  especially  those  in  the  Tennessee 
Valley,  oft^n  complained  that  the  various  methods  in  use  in- 
dicated that  no  scientific  basis  of  field-management  had  been 
arrived  at.  The  greatest  bone  of  contention  was  as  to  the 
distance  that  should  be  allowed  between  the  beds  and  the 
stalks  in  the  beds.  There  was  also  much  variety  as  to  the  use 
of  fertilizer.  Stable  manure  was,  of  course,  used,  and  cot- 
ton seed  was  employed  by  many.  The  latter  was  sometimes 
mixed  with  leaf  mold  or  other  material  and  allowed  to  stand 
in  great  piles  until  spring,  when  the  mixture  was  strewn  in 
drills.  Yet  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  the  worth  of  cot- 

•^•' Cohmrba  Press.  Jan.  21,  1822;  American  Farmer,  IV,  380-382. 
•^^•' Ahthama  Refnihlican,  Sept.  7,  1821,  Nov.  23,  1821,  Sept.  27,   1822; 
Cahanha  Press,  Dec.  13,  1821,  Jan.  28,  1822. 


AGRICULTURE  65 

ton  seed  as  fertilizer  was  generally  overlooked  and  the  valuable 
material  thrown  away.-' 

The  greatest  advance  that  was  made  during  the  decade  in 
the  raising  of  cotton  was  the  introduction  of  the  "Mexican" 
variety  of  seed.  This  produced  larger  pods  which  opened 
wider  than  the  old  variety  and  allowed  the  fibre  to  hang  from 
the  bolls,  making  the  picking  an  easier  process  than  it  had 
previously  been.  Industrious  hands  were  now  able  to  pick 
two  hundred  pounds  a  day,  whereas  one  hundred  had  formerly 
been  a  good  average.-'' 

The  planting  of  a  localized  staple  such  as  cotton  was  a  more 
speculative  industry  than  was  the  raising  of  the  more  wide- 
spread crops.  Since  the  South  furnished  the  world  with  most 
of  its  cotton,  a  bountiful  crop  in  that  section,  not  being  offset 
to  any  great  extent  by  differing  conditions  in  other  places, 
would  depress  the  price  to  the  full  extent  of  the  local  over- 
production. Likewise,  a  short  crop  in  the  South  meant  a 
shortage  of  cotton  for  the  world,  and  a  high  price  which 
would  spend  its  whole  buoyant  force  upon  the  industry  of  a 
few  states.  And  the  planters  were  the  most  helpless  of  peo- 
ple in  the  matter  of  adjusting  themselves  to  the  varying  econ- 
omic conditions.  Once  a  man  had  established  himself  as  a 
slave  holder  in  the  lower  South,  he  found  it  hard  to  vary  his 
agricultural  system. 2'*  He  could  not  diminish  his  crop  much 
below  the  normal,  for  his  slaves  were  efficient  only  when 
worked  according  to  the  usual  routine ;  nor  were  there  any  fa- 
cilities for  marketing  other  crops. 

It  was  the  high  price  of  cotton  during  the  years  following 
the  close  of  the  second  war  with  England  which  gave  Ala- 
bama her  first  great  influx  of  population.  During  1818  land 
sales  in  Alabama  reached  their  zenith.  So  keen  was  the 
competition  at  the  Government  auctions  for  good  cotton  acre- 
age, that  especially  desirable  tracts  were  sold  off  at  prices 
which  caused  comment  throughout  the  country.  But  cotton 
fell  from  thirty-four  to  twenty-four  cents  the  next  year;  to 
seventeen  cents  in  1820;  to  fourteen  in  1821;  and  in  1823  it 


27  Saxe-Weimar,  I,  33;  Southern  Advocate,  July  21,  1826;  Southern 
Agriculturist,  II,  254-262;  Royall,  Letters  from  Alabama  (quoting  let- 
ter from  Col.  Pope),  162. 

,  28  American  Farmer,  II,  116  (July  7,  1829) ;  Southern  Advocate,  Sept^ 
8,  1826,  Sept.  29,  1826;  HuntsviUe  Democrat,  Sept.  8,  1826. 

2f^  Southern  Advocate,  Nov.  17,  1826. 


66  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

reached  bottom  at  about  eleven  cents  a  pound.-^<>  During 
these  years  of  falling  prices,  the  value  of  slaves  declined 
steadily,^'  though  there  was  more  land  cultivated  in  the  Ten- 
nessee Valley  in  1821  than  during  any  previous  season.^'-'  By 
1823,  however,  discouragement  had  set  in,  and  the  low  price 
resulted  in  the  planting  of  a  smaller  cotton  crop.-''^'  Retrench- 
ment was,  however,  a  hard  matter  for  the  planter.  He  could  do 
little  more  in  that  direction  than  raise  all  his  own  supplies  of 
corn  and  pork,  and  the  amount  of  cotton  shipped  from  Mobile 
remained  practically  stationary  during  1822,  1823,  and  1824.3* 

In  1825  there  came  a  jump  in  the  price  as  a  result  of  spec- 
ulation in  the  British  market.  Corn  was  actually  plowed  up 
in  Alabama  for  the  sake  of  planting  more  cotton  ;=*^  the  vol- 
ume of  the  crop  rose ;  and  the  value  of  slaves  was  stimulated. 
But  fhe  optimism  was  short-lived.  The  price  of  the  staple 
receded  to  a  lower  level  than  it  had  reached  before,  and  for 
several  years  thereafter  cotton  sold  in  New  York  for  about 
ten  cents  a  pound.     The  depression  in  Alabama  was  marked. 

Complaints  of  the  unprofitableness  of  cotton  went  up  on  all 
sides,  and  the  need  for  diversification  was  urged.  The  prev- 
alent unscientific  methods  of  planting  were  condemned  and 
a  widespread  agitation  for  agricultural  societies  set  in.^e  The 
Governor's  message  of  1826  urged  diversification  and  sug- 
gested a  standing  committee  to  consider  the  agricultural 
problems  of  the  State.^"  So  great  had  been  the  over-planting 
of  cotton  in  1825  that  the  Alabama  Journal,  on  Sept.  6,  1826, 
proposed  a  special  meeting  of  the  general  assembly  to  afford 
relief  in  view  of  the  impending  scarcity  of  provisions.  Yet 
there  was  only  a  temporary  decrease  in  the  amount  of  cot- 
ton that  went  out  from  Mobile. 

so  For  yearly  average  of  prices  for  mfiddling  upland  cotton  in  New 
York  and  Liverpool,  see  J.  L.  Watkins,  Production  arid  Price  of  Cotton, 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  Statistics,  Miscellaneous  Bulletins, 
1895,  No.  9,  p.  8-9. 

31  For  chart  of  slave  prices,  see  U.  B.  Phillips,  Negro  Slavery,  370. 

32  Alabama  Republican,  Nov.  2,  1821. 

3^  Mobile  Argus,  Oct.  31,  1823;  Huntsville  Democrat,  Oct.  28,  1823; 
Alabama  Republican,  Oct.  24,  1823. 

S'*  Hazard,  U.  S.  Commercial  and  Statistical  Register,  III,  272. 

35  Tuscumbian,  June  27,  1825. 

sa  Alabama  Journal,  Sept.  29,  1826;  Southern  Advocate,  Sept.  15, 
1826,  Dec.  1,  1827;  Huntsville  Democrat,  March  9,  1827. 

3T  Senate  Journal,  1826,  9. 


AGRICULTURE  6T 

The  average  production  of  cotton  for  a  slave  was,  during 
these  years,  about  a  thousand  pounds,  ginned.^^  This,  at  ten 
cents  a  pound,  would  be  worth  one  hundred  dollars,  and  since 
the  maintenance  of  a  slave  cost  approximately  twenty-five  dol- 
lars a  year  in  money  and  provisions,  there  remained  about 
seventy-five  dollars  to  provide  for  up-keep,  interest,  and  prof- 
its. The  indications  are  that  ten  cents  was  the  lowest 
price  at  which  cotton  could  be  raised  at  this  time  without  a 
loss ;  but  it  seems  that  the  production  of  a  slave  was  later  in- 
creased so  that  a  lower  price  became  possible. 

As  to  the  management  of  slaves  in  Alabama  during  the  early 
period,  no  information  has  been  obtained.  In  describing  a 
Georgia  plantation  in  1828,  Basil  Hall  gives  an  account  of  the 
"tasking"  system;'"'  and  E.  C.  Holland,  in  a  treatise  written 
on  the  subject  in  1822,  says  that  this  was  the  universal  practice 
at  the  time.^*^'  Fields  were  staked  off  into  quarter-acre,  half- 
acre,  or  three-quarter-acre  "tasks"  in  proportions  to  the  la- 
boriousness  of  the  work  and  the  strength  of  the  hand.  By 
diligence,  the  worker  could  finish  his  task  early  in  the  after- 
noon and  have  the  rest  of  the  day  to  himself.  In  this  way, 
compulsion  was  reduced  to  the  minimum,  and  the  slaves  given 
a  stimulus  to  work.  Another  account  shows  that  this  system 
was  in  use  in  South  Carolina,  and  there  are  scattered  refer- 
ences to  it  in  agricultural  discussions.  Whether  it  was  really 
universal  cannot  be  stated  except  upon  the  authority  of  Hol- 
land's assertion.  For  Alabama  there  is  no  information  one  way 
or  the  other. 

The  small  farmer  was  not  dependent  upon  the  price  of  cot- 
ton. He  had  come  into  the  new  country  in  search  of  econom- 
ic freedom  rather  than  of  fortune.  He  sought  subsistence  for 
his  family  rather  than  cotton  lands  and  access  to  market.  He 
did  not  compete  for  the  most  fertile  and  accessible  locations 
because  he  lacked  the  capital,  and  because  it  was  not  to  his  in- 
terest to  do  so.  A  secluded  nook  would  serve  him  as  well  or 
better,  for  he  loved  the  freedom  of  the  forest,  his  rifle,  and  his 

38  Statistics  for  Madison  County  for  1819  give  825  pounds  as  the  av- 
erage for  a  full  hand.  See  Alabama  Republican,  Aug.  25,  1820.  James 
G.  Birney  is  said  to  have  produced  1850  pounds  to  the  hand  in  1820,. 
Jacicson  Papers,  James  Jackson  to  Andi'ew  Jackson,  May  28,  1821.  But. 
a  thousand  pounds  to  the  hand  is  mentioned  in  most  estimates  as  the 
average. 

30  Basil  Hall,  Travels  in  North  America,  II,  '229-231. 

40  Edwin  C.  Holland,  A  Refutation  of  the  Calumnies  Circulated! 
against   the  Southern  and  Western  States  Respecting  Slavery,  48-5S. 


<8  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

axe.  He  built  his  house  of  logs,  cleared  his  corn  patches,  and 
raised  his  hogs.  There  was  a  fine  range  for  cattle  in  the 
woods,  and  large  herds  found  their  own  subsistence  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  year.^' 

Many,  perhaps  most,  of  the  small  farmers  had  come  west 
with  practically  no  property,  and  their  farming  equipment 
was  at  first  of  the  crudest  kind.  Wheat  was  a  familiar  crop 
to  many  of  them,  and  it  was  tried  in  Alabama,  but  lack  of  flour 
mills  made  the  grinding  of  it  a  difficult  problem.  Corn  prov- 
ed to  be  more  practicable,  and  grist  mills  were  built  on  the 
streams  during  the  first  stages  of  settlement.  Cotton,  too, 
soon  came  to  be  popular  with  the  small  farmer.  Though  a 
man  could  not  raise  the  supplies  for  his  own  family  and  plant 
a  large  cotton  crop  at  the  same  time,  he  could  raise  a  small 
amount  of  the  staple  and  sell  it  for  enough  to  supply  his  fi- 
nancial needs.  Thus,  largely  because  of  the  ease  of  market- 
ing it,  cotton  came  to  be  the  "money  crop"  among  the  farm- 
ers.*2 

Taking  a  general  view  of  the  State,  the  several  regions 
within  Alabama  differed  materially  in  their  economic  compo- 
sition. The  Tennessee  Valley,  to  begin,  offers  the  most  com- 
plete picture  of  agricultural,  and  hence  social  and  political, 
diversity.  The  Georgians  who  established  Madison  County  in 
1809  invested  extensively  in  land,  and,  being  on  the  ground 
during  the  phenomenal  years  of  1817  and  1818,  their  fortunes 
soared.  By  1826  some  of  them  owned  gangs  of  negroes  num- 
bering into  the  hundreds. ^"^  Also  among  the  Virginians, 
North  Carolinians,  and  Georgians  who  purchased  lands  in  the 
Valley  in  1818  were  men  of  extensive  wealth.  The  specula- 
tive conditions  under  which  the  valley  region  west  of  Madison 
County  was  opened  up  served  to  debar  men  of  moderate 
means  from  securing  desirable  tracts.  But  all  the  northern 
counties  contained  lands  lying  outside  the  valley  region,  and 
consequently  there  remained  many  less  desirable  tracts  which 
could  be  taken  up  by  private  entry  after  the  auction  sales 
were  over.  Tennesseeans  of  moderate  means  came  down  in 
large  numbers  and  settled  in  the  same  counties  with  the 
wealthy  planters. 

•»!  Hodgson,  Letters  from  North  America,  I,  124;  Riley,  Conecuh  Coun- 
ty, 52;    Southern  Advocate,  Sept.  7,  1827. 

■12  Teeple  and  Sntith  (Publishers),  Jefferson  County,  59;  Riley,  Con- 
ecuh County,  22-25,  92-111;  Smith,  Pickens  County,  46-48;  Yerby, 
Greensboro,  3. 

^s  Ba.«!ed  on  statements  published  in  Southern  Advocate,  Dec.  1,  1826. 


AGRICULTURE  69 

This  diversity  of  origin  and  station  between  close  neighbors 
developed  a  certain  antagonism  which  was  aggravated  by  the 
commercial  situation.  The  cotton  of  the  Valley  had  to  be 
lightered  over  Muscle  Shoals  and  then  floated  all  the  way  down 
to  New  Orleans  before  it  could  be  marketed.  To  have  a  crop 
ginned  and  baled,  and  shipped  in  this  way  to  merchants  in 
New  Orleans;  then  to  cash  the  draft  which  was  received  in 
return  and  secure  the  proceeds,  required  months  of  delay  and 
entailed  reliance  upon  forwarding  agents,  brokers,  and  banks, 
which  the  small  producer  was  not  able  to  face  on  his  own  ac- 
count. In  order  to  avoid  all  this,  he  sometimes  sold  his  cotton 
in  the  seed  to  local  merchants  who  provided  him  with  his  sup- 
plies. Sometimes  he  prepared  his  crop  for  shipment  and 
turned  it  over  to  a  merchant  who  advanced  him  a  certain  per 
cent,  of  its  value  and  paid  the  balance  when  the  remittance 
came  up  from  New  Orleans.^^  In  either  case,  he  was  likely  to 
lose  at  every  turn  in  the  transaction,  and  this  condition  of 
commercial  dependence  tended  to  leave  him  resentful  toward 
those  with  whom  he  was  forced  to  do  business.  The  political 
result  of  this  situation  made  the  Tennessee  Valley  a  hotbed 
of  partisan  contention. 

This  section  seems  to  have  gone  in  more  for  quantity  than 
quality,^ ^  and  its  cotton  brought  the  lowest  prices  on  the  mar- 
ket. When  a  crop  was  disposed  of  to  a  country  merchant, 
the  staple  was  usually  taken  at  a  uniform  price.^*'  The  fact 
that  a  large  part  of  the  output  was  sold  in  this  way  may  ac- 
count for  the  relatively  careless  handling  of  the  product  in 
the  Tennessee  Valley.  Picking  and  preparing  the  staple  for 
market  required  great  care,  and  negligence  in  these  process- 
es resulted  in  a  trashy  fibre  that  greatly  reduced  the  value 
of  the  article.  Over-planting  of  cotton  caused  congestion 
during  the  picking  season  and  naturally  led  to  careless  hand- 
ling. 

Over-planting  also  made  it  necessary  to  purchase  a  large 
part  of  the  corn  and  pork  supply  for  the  negroes,  and  the  im- 
portation of  these  articles  into  the  Tennessee  Valley  was  large. 
The  trade  was  encouraged  by  the  ease  with  which  such  pro- 
ducts could  be  brought  down  the  River  from  East  Tennessee. 

44  See  Chapter  IX. 

45  Documentary  History  of  Industrial  Society,  from  the  Georgia  CouV' 
ier,  Oct.  11,  1827,  283-298. 

40  Mobile  Register,  Jan.  6,  1823. 


70  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

Occupying  the  north-central  portion  of  the  State  and  ex- 
tending from  the  Tennessee  Valley  to  the  navigable  waters  of 
the  Alabama  and  Tombigbee  Rivers,  lay  the  hilly  region. 
Here  the  isolated  valleys  were  settled  by  men  of  pioneer  in- 
stincts who  began  to  come  in  as  early  as  1815.  Small  clear- 
ings were  made  and  log  cabins  rose  here  and  there.  The 
woods  furnished  abundant  game  and  an  excellent  range  for 
cattle,  while  corn  and  hogs  were  relied  upon  as  the  principal 
food  supplies.  In  other  words,  this  region  reproduced  the 
characteristics  which  have  always  typified  the  advancing 
frontier  of  our  Country. 

Since  a  large  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  Alabama  were 
of  the  farmer  rather  than  of  the  planter  class,  and  since  the 
planters  needed  supplies  of  corn  and  pork  which  the  farmers 
principally  raised,  it  seems,  at  first  glance,  strange  that  the 
hilly  region  did  not  send  large  quantities  of  these  products  in- 
to the  river  valley  regions.  This  would  have  been  an  easily 
accessible  market  for  the  farmers,  and  the  planters  would 
have  had  a  convenient  source  of  supply,  but  no  such  trade  ev- 
er reached  significant  proportions.  The  explanation  is  that 
the  farmer  planted  his  surplus  in  cotton  rather  than  in  corn. 
Cotton  was  easier  to  handle,  and  the  financial  return  was  evi- 
dently more  satisfactory  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  small  pro- 
ducer could  not  own  his  gin  nor  market  his  crop  except  by 
disposing  of  it  to  a  local  merchant.  For  the  greater  part  of  the 
central  hilly  region,  Tuscaloosa,  at  the  head  of  navigation  on 
the  Black  Warrior,  was  the  most  convenient  market  after  the 
steamboat  came  into  general  use.  The  road  which  connected 
Tuscaloosa  with  Huntsville  passed  through  Jones  Valley,  in 
which  Birmingham  now  stands;  and  along  this  route  most  of 
the  cotton  was  carried  to  market  and  the  supplies  of  coffee, 
sugar,  and  flour  brought  back  to  the  farm.^" 

Though  the  sticky  soil  of  the  prairie  region,  or  Black  Belt, 
was  avoided  by  the  planter  until  about  1830,  there  were  fer- 
tile tracts  of  land  upon  the  northern  border  of  the  prairie 
which  proved  attractive  to  the  first  planters  who  immigrated 
to  Alabama.  These  areas,  together  with  the  bottom  lands 
along  the  Alabama  and  Tombigbee  Rivers,  constituted  the  cot- 
ton section  of  the  southern  part  of  the  State. 

Excepting  in  the  prairie  region,  the  stretches  of  good  land 
were  not  so  extensive  as  in  the  Tennessee  Valley,    and    the 

■»"  Alabama  Republican,  March  1,  1822;  Huntsville  Democrat,  Jan.  19, 
1827. 


AGRICULTURE  71 

planter  lived  in  closer  relation  to  the  man  who  farmed  with- 
out slaves;  and  since  he  was  a  fellow  agriculturist  rather 
than  a  capitalist  in  the  eyes  of  his  less  wealthy  neighbors, 
the  sharp  political  dissensions  which  agitated  the  Tennessee 
Valley  lost  their  sting  in  the  south. 

Perhaps  the  best  expanse  of  land  in  all  this  region  lay  in 
the  vicinity  of  Montgomery  County,  and  here  there  grew  up 
what  was  probably  an  ideal  planting  community.  The  inhab- 
itants are  pictured  as  peace-loving,  industrious,  and  economi- 
cally independent.  Instead  of  dealing  with  the  local  merch- 
ants, they  carried  their  cotton  to  Mobile  and  brought  their  sup- 
plies back  up  the  River.^^ 

Though  the  indications  are  that  the  agricultural  system 
practiced  in  this  region  was  more  conservative  than  that  of 
the  Tennessee  Valley,  and  that  there  was  less  over-planting 
of  cotton,  yet  large  quantities  of  pork  and  corn  were  import- 
ed along  with  flour  and  whisky.  Though  some  of  this  came 
down  through  the  country  from  Tennessee,  the  bulk  of  it  came 
from  Mobile,  to  which  point  it  had  been  shipped  from  the 
Ohio  and  Cumberland  River  region  by  way  of  New  Orleans. 
It  was  said  in  1824  that  from  twenty  to  thirty  thousand  bar- 
rels of  such  supplies  passed  through  Mobile  annually.^^ 

The  piney  region  of  sandy  clay  which  covers  the  southeast- 
ern corner  of  Alabama  was  considered  relatively  infertile, 
and  here  men  without  slaves  or  property  set  up  a  frontier 
community  at  the  time  when  the  rest  of  the  State  was  being 
settled.  Lands  in  the  back-woods  sections  did  not  begin  to 
be  sold  until  about  1824,  so  that  the  immigrants  could  "squat" 
for  years  upon  Government  property  and  then  buy  in  their 
farms  at  the  minimum  price  after  the  speculative  period  was 
well  over.  Coming  principally  from  Georgia,  South  Caro- 
lina, and  Tennessee,  the  inhabitants  of  this  region  had  the 
same  general  characteristics  as  those  of  the  hilly  region.  The 
pasturage  here  made  it  possible  for  cattle  to  sustain  them- 
selves during  the  entire  year,  and  numerous  herds  were  kept 
by  many  of  the  settlers.^" 

Thus  the  agricultural  life  of  Alabama  may  be  divided  into 
two  predominant  phases:  that  in  which  the  planter,  with  a 
highly  capitalized  establishment,  raised  cotton  with  slave  la- 

^8  Robertson,  Montgomery  County,  11-13,  15-16,  36-38,  125,  139-140. 

4»  Mobile  Register,  March  2,  1824. 

so  Riley,  Conecuh  County,  19,  28-32,  43-54,  55-65. 


72  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

bor  for  the  sake  of  profit ;  and  that  in  which  the  farmer,  with 
very  little  capital,  sought  an  independent  existence  for  his 
family.  To  the  planter,  rich  lands  and  convenient  water 
transportation  were  essential,  while  the  price  of  cotton  was  of 
prime  importance.  To  the  farmer,  transportation  facilities 
were  of  little  importance,  and  a  large  part  of  the  State  offered 
him  isolated  bits  of  good  land  which  would  have  been  of  no  val- 
ue to  the  planter.  The  geographical  segregation  of  these  two 
classes  of  people  was  not  complete,  but  there  was  little  active 
competition  between  them.  The  best  cotton  lands  were  sold 
during  the  speculative  period  when  the  man  without  capital 
had  little  chance  of  successful  competition;  the  backlands 
were  sold  during  a  later  period  when  the  actual  settler  could 
buy  them  in  at  the  minimum  price  with  money  which  he  had 
made  upon  the  ground.  Though  there  was  a  tendency  for 
the  planter  to  displace  the  farmer  who  had  settled  in  his  im- 
mediate neighborhood,  nevertheless,  the  lines  which  separated 
the  planting  districts  from  the  farming  districts  were  laid 
down  when  the  Government  first  opened  the  lands  to  the 
whites. 


Chapter  VIII. 


RIVERS  AND  ROADS 

There  is  no  way  of  realizing  more  keenly  the  difference  be- 
tween past  and  present  than  to  look  upon  the  untroubled  wa- 
ters of  a  navigable  river  and  recall  that  it  once  shaped  the  his- 
tory of  a  section.  Though  the  turbid  stream  of  the  Alabama 
now  but  rarely  floats  a  vessel,  it  is  fitting  that  it  gave  its 
name  to  the  State  that  it  traverses.  It  was  their  separate  wa- 
terway which  gave  the  settlers  along  the  Tombigbee  interests 
which  were  distinct  from  those  of  the  settlers  upon  the  lower 
Mississippi.  It  was  down  the  stream  that  the  early  planters  in- 
tended to  float  their  cotton  to  market,  and  so  they  chose  their 
homes  near  the  rivers. 

Mobile  was  a  struggling  community  of  three  hundred  in- 
habitants, mostly  Creoles,  when  it  was  taken  over  by  the 
Americans  in  1813.  A  few  years  later,  when  population  be- 
gan to  spread  along  its  tributary  rivers,  it  began  to  grow  and 
in  1819  numbered  eight  hundred  inhabitants.  In  1823  this 
number  had  increased  to  nearly  three  thousand.^  Most  of 
the  higher  class  of  Creoles  had  left  when  Spanish  rule  ended, 
and  the  new  population  was  made  up  of  Americans  of  every 
type.  Merchants  came  largely  from  the  North,  adventurers 
gathered  from  every  quarter,  and  the  mixture,  according  to 
some  visitors  at  least,  was  not  attractive. - 

In  place  of  the  one  wharf  of  Creole  days,  there  were  a  doz- 
en by  1823.  Markets  were  built  and  brick  structures  be- 
gan to  replace  wooden  buildings.  Because  of  obstruction  in 
the  harbor,  ships  of  the  larger  class  entered  with  difficulty. 
This  fact  made  it  necessary  for  the  town  to  confine 
its  shipping  largely  to  the  coastwise  traffic.  Fruits  from 
Cuba  were  to  be  found  in  the  markets  and  a  regular  trade 
with  New  York  was  established  at  an  early  date,  but  a  large 
part  of  the  cotton  which  was  destined  for  Europe  had  to  be 
sent  to  New  Qrleans  for  shipment."' 

1  Niles'  Register,  XXII,  96;  Mobile  Register,  Feb.  7,  1822. 

-  Hodpson,  Letters  from.  North  America,  I,  152. 

•■' Saxe- Weimar,  Travels  Through  North  America,  I,  39-41;  Hamilton 
Colonial  Mobile,  473;  Mobile  Argus,  Oct.  28,  1823;  Mobile  Advertiser, 
Feb.  26,  1824. 


74  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

The  cotton  region  along  the  rivers  gave  birth  to  several 
towns  between  1815  and  1818.  St.  Stephens  already  stood 
at  the  head  of  schooner  navigation  on  the  Tombigbee.  It  had 
been  a  flourishing  little  community  when  Mobile  was  still  in 
the  hands  of  Spain.  But  now  the  trade  passed  it  by  and  went 
down  to  the  larger  town  on  the  Bay.  It  still  held  a  local 
trade,  however,  and  some  of  its  glory  lingered.  With  its 
bank,  its  academy,  its  press,  its  land  office,  and  its  steamboat 
company,  it  maintained  its  place  for  awhile;  but  its  well- 
built  houses  were  destined  to  sink  into  ruins  which  have 
now  all  but  disappeared  from  view.^ 

Far  above  St.  Stephens,  Tuscaloosa  was  located  at  the  head 
of  boat  navigation  on  the  Black  Warrior,  and  from  here  such 
overland  trade  as  there  was  between  the  two  sections  of  the 
State  passed  through  Jones  Valley  to  the  Valley  of  the  Ten- 
nessee.^ 

On  the  Alabama  River,  Claiborne  grew  up  at  the  head  of 
schooner  navigation  and  came  to  be  the  center  of  a  cotton- 
planting  community.  The  capital  of  the  State  was  establish- 
ed at  Cahawba,  where  the  river  of  that  name  flows  into  the 
Alabama ;  and  Selma  was  founded  a  few  miles  above.  On  a 
bluff  not  far  from  the  head  of  navigation,  two  towns  were 
established  by  land  speculators'  in  1817  and  1818.  One  of 
these  was  founded  by  Andrew  Dexter,  from  Massachusetts, 
and  was  christened  New  Philadelphia ;  the  other  was  founded 
by  the  Bibb  Company  and  named  East  Alabama.  In  1819 
the  two  settlements  were  combined  and  incorporated  as  the 
town  of  Montgomery.** 

From  these  places,  the  cotton  passed  down  the  rivers  to 
Mobile.  Flat  bottomed  boats — crudely  constructed  affairs 
with  pitched  seams — could  carry  from  fifty  to  a  hundred 
bales  and  were  broken  up  at  the  end  of  the  journey."  Keel 
boats,  though  not  used  so  frequently  as  flat-bottomed  boats 
on  the  Alabama  and  Tombigbee,  were  employed  where  the  re- 
quirements were  more  severe.  They  were  frequently  about 
fifty  feet  in'  length  and  were  more  durable  and  sea-worthy 
than  the  flat-bottomed  type.  But  the  greater  expense  of 
construction  discouraged  their  use  except  where  a  return  trip 
was  to  be  made. 

*  St.  Stephens  Halcyon,  March  30,  1822. 

^  Alahama  Republican,  May  4,  1821;  Hamilton,  Colonial  Mobile,  463. 

**•  Woodward,  Reminiscences,  130 ;  Blue,  Montgomery,  6-8. 

'  Saxe- Weimar,  Travels  Through  North  Am,erica,  I,  35. 


RIVERS  AND  ROADS  75 

Nor  were  return  trips  very  frequent.  A  boat  which  would 
float  down  from  Montgomery  to  Mobile  in  about  two  weeks 
required  a  month  or  six  weeks  to  be  poled  or  warped  back  up 
the  river;  and  the  freight  rate  prevailing  at  that  time  was 
five  dollars  a  barrel.^  Merchants  generally  preferred  to 
bring  their  wares  over  the  Federal  Road  from  Georgia,-'  or 
down  from  the  upper  country.  Whisky,  pork,  and  flour  were 
the  most  generally  desired  commodities  in  the  cotton  section. 
These  articles  could  be  obtained  in  east  Tennessee  and  in 
west  Virginia,  and  they  could  be  brought  thence  by  the  fol- 
lowing method :  A  keel  boat  was  loaded  near  the  place  of 
production  and  floated  down  the  Holston  to  the  Tennessee 
River.  By  ascending  a  small  tributary  of  the  Tennessee,  the 
Hiwassee,  the  boat  could  be  navigated  to  within  twelve  miles 
of  the  headwaters  of  the  Coosa.  There  was  a  portage  across 
this  stretch  of  land.  Boat  houses  were  constructed  at  either 
end  of  it,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  hauling  the  boats 
in  wagons  from  one  stream  to  the  other.  This  route  was 
traversed  at  a  very  early  period  in  Alabama  history.  Ten- 
nessee produce  reached  Montgomery  by  this  course,  and  about 
twelve  thousand  gallons  of  whisky  were  said  to  have  been  car- 
ried across  the  portage  in  1821. ^^ 

Transportation  conditions  in  the  Tennessee  Valley  were 
rendered  peculiar  by  the  presence  of  the  obstruction  in  the 
channel  of  the  River  at  Muscle  Shoals.  During  the  dry  summer 
months  the  Shoals  could  not  be  passed,  but  the  River  rose  in 
the  fall,  and  by  February,  boats  could  go  over  the  rapids.  The 
water  began  to  go  down  again  in  the  spring,  so  that  but  two  or 
three  months  elapsed  during  which  shipments  could  be  made 
from  above."  Warehouses  were  built  at  landing  places  on 
the  River  and  here  cotton  was  accumulated  by  merchants  and 
shippers.  As  soon  as  the  water  rose,  the  bales  were  loaded 
on  keel  boats  which  were  dispatched  in  fleets  under  the 
charge  of  experienced  pilots  who  saw  them  safely  past  the 
Shoals,     The  pilots  would  then  return,  and  the  boats  would 

>*  Levasseur,  Lafayette  en  Amenque,  II,  345;  Niles'  Register,  XXI,  215; 
Jackson  Papers,  E.  P.  Gaines  to  Andrew  Jackson,  March  15,  1816.  See 
Phillips,  Transportation  in  the  Eastern  Cotton  Belt,  71,  for  a  description 
of  the  flat-bottomed  and  pole  boats. 

!'  Hall  Papers,  Hines  Holt  to  B.  Hall,  July  4,  1820,  Sept.  20,  1820,  Nov. 
14,  1820. 

10  Niles'  Register,  XX,  63,  House  Ex.  Docs.  No.  15,  20,  Cong.,  2  Sess.. 
Vol.  1. 

n  Alabama  Rejniblican,  Feb.  8,  1822. 


76  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

proceed  to  New  Orleans  under  the  direction  of  forwarding 
agents.  The  freight  rate  for  cotton  shipped  in  this  manner  was 
from  four  to  five  dollars  a  bale.^- 

But  difficult  as  it  was  to  get  cotton  to  market,  it  was  still 
more  dificult  to  bring  back  the  supplies  which  were  needed. 
There  were  several  possible  routes  and  all  of  them  seem  to 
have  been  used  at  times.  Until  1816  the  usual  method  was  to 
ship  goods  from  New  York  and  Philadelphia  to  Charleston  or 
Savannah ;  transport  them  to  Augusta,  and  thence  carry  them 
by  the  "Georgia  Road"  through  the  Cherokee  country  to 
Ross's  landing,  opposite  the  spot  where  Chattanooga  now 
stands  on  the  Tennessee.  From  here  they  were  floated  down 
to  Ditto's  landing  near  Huntsville,  or  to  other  points  along 
the  River.  In  1816  a  merchant  named  Crump  was  the  first 
to  bring  goods  from  Mobile  to  Huntsville  by  poling  them  up 
the  River  in  a  boat  to  Tuscaloosa,  and  hauling  them  in  wagons 
from  that  place.  The  road  was  found  to  be  fairly  good,  and 
the  overland  trip  required  but  eight  days.^''  Supplies  might 
also  be  brought  through  the  Valley  of  Virginia  by  way  of 
Knoxville;  but  the  favorite  route  during  the  'twenties  seems 
to  have  been  that  down  the  Ohio  to  the  Cumberland,  up  the 
Cumberland  to  Nashville,  and  across  country  from  that  place. 
Flour,  pork,  and  whisky  could  be  brought  from  Kentucky  and 
the  Northwest  in  this  way,  as  could  manufactures  which  went 
overland  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburgh  and  then  down  the 
Ohio.i^ 

Vv  ith  the  advent  of  the  steamboat,  conditions  were  radically 
changed.  Goods  could  now  be  carried  up  stream  as  easily  as 
they  could  be  brought  down,  and  the  overland  trade  rapidly 
fell  off.  Central  and  southern  Alabama  became  depend- 
ent upon  Mobile  for  supplies  and  North  Alabama  be- 
gan to  obtain  most  of  hers  from  New  Orleans.  The  planter 
thus  came  in  time  to  buy  his  goods  in  the  same  market  in 
which  he  sold  his  cotton. 

The  first  appearance  of  the  steamboat  on  the  rivers  of  Ala- 
bama cannot  be  fixed  with  absolute  precision,  but  it  seems 
clear  that  steam  navigation  on  the  Tombigbee  was  establish- 
ed in  1819.     Morse's  Universal  Geography  of  that  year  states 


i-Betts,  History  of  Huntsville,  61-62;  Alabiima  Republican,  Jan.  18, 
1822. 

i.'i  Washington  Republican,  Jan.  1,  1817;  Warden,  Account  of  the  Unit-, 
rd  Stfites.  Ill,  39;  Indian  Office  files,  S.  D.  Hutchings  to  R.  J.  Meigs, 
Dec.  3,  1816. 

!■»  Alabama  Republican,  Jan.  18,  1822. 


RIVERS  AND  ROADS  77 

that  steamers  were  then  plying  between  Mobile  and  St.  Steph- 
ens ;^5  and  Hamilton  asserts  in  his  Colonial  Mobile  that  the 
first  trip  up  to  Demopolis  was  made  in  1819  by  either  the 
"Tensa"  or  the  "Mobile.^"  There  is  a  record  of  the  launch- 
ing of  the  "Tensa"  on  the  Bay  during  this  year,  and  the  citi- 
zens of  Mobile  were  a  little  later  congratulated  in  the  local 
press  on  another  attempt  to  navigate  the  River.^"  During 
the  same  season  the  steamboat  "Mobile,"  which  had  been 
brought  from  Boston,  was  advertised  to  ascend  to  Tusca- 
loosa. ^^ 

It  was  not  long  before  the  "Harriett"  and  the  "Cotton 
Plant"  were  brought  to  Mobile  for  service  in  the  river  trade, 
and  in  1820  the  "Tombeckbee"  was  launched  at  St.  Stephens. 
This  last  boat  was  of  seventy  tons  burden,  had  an  eighty-five 
foot  deck  and  drew  but  fifteen  inches  of  water  when  unload- 
ed.^" The  others  were  of  about  the  same  size, — in  other  words 
but  little  larger  than  the  average  keel  boat  then  in  use.  But 
these  four  little  craft  were  pioneers;  they  established  steam 
communication  on  the  waters  of  the  Alabama.  In  1821  the 
"Harriett"  ascended  the  Alabama  to  Montgomery;  in  1824 
the  "Cotton  Plant"  made  her  way  up  the  Tombigbee  to  the 
head  of  Navigation  at  Cotton  Gin  Port,  Mississippi;-"  and  in 
1828  the  first  trip  was  made  up  the  Chattahoochee  to  the  falls 
at  Columbus,  Georgia.-^ 

It  was  during  the  fall  and  winter  months  only  that  the 
stage  of  the  water  was  high  enough  to  permit  of  navigation 
of  these  rivers.  Dread  of  yellow  fever  all  but  cleared  Mobile 
of  population  during  the  summer ;  but  in  November  the  mer- 
chants began  to  return  and  collect  their  wares.  The  cotton 
trade  commenced  in  this  month  and  continued  briskly  until  the 
following  May  or  June,  then  it  fell  off  suddenly  and  remained 
at  a  stand  until  the  waters  rose  in  the  fall.^-' 

I'"'  Morse,  Universal  Geography,  I,  558. 

1'"  Hamilton,  Colonial  Mobile,  447-448,  471-472. 

^'Mobile  Gazette,  Aug.  4,  1819,  copied  in  the  Alabcnnu  Republican 
Aug.  21,  1819. 

^^  Alabama  Republican,  April  .3,  1819. 

i!»  St.  Stephens  Halcyon,  May  15,  1820. 

2'>  Hamilton,  Colonial  Mobile,  172;  Walker  Papers,  J.  S.  Walker  to  J. 
W.  Walker,  Nov.  23,  1821.  In  1822,  the  Elizabeth,  the  Harriett,  the 
Cotton  Plant,  and  the  Tensa  were  navigating  the  Alabama,  while  the 
Tombeckbee  was  plying  the  Tombigbee  River;  Mobile  Register,  June  10, 
1822. 

-'1  Cahawba  Press,  Apr.  24,  1824. 

■^■■i  Statistics  on  the  trpde  for  the  seasons  1820-1827  and  1827-1828  col- 
lected from  the  Mobile  Register. 


78  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

The  number  of  boats  on  the  rivers  increased  from  year  to 
year.  In  1823  there  were  eleven,-"  and  by  1826  the  number 
had  risen  to  eighteen. -^  All  of  these  were  vessels  of  light 
draft,  the  lightest  being  used  in  the  Tuscaloosa  trade.  Cot- 
ton was  piled  high  on  the  decks  and  passengers  confined  close- 
ly to  the  cabins,  which  were  not  commodious.  Before  reach- 
ing a  town,  a  gun  was  fired  from  the  deck  in  order  to  warn 
the  inhabitants  of  the  approach  of  the  vessel.  The  banks 
of  the  rivers  were  generally  steep  and  high,  and  cotton  was 
loaded  by  sliding  it  down  an  inclined  plane.  The  boats  fre- 
quently lay  to  in  order  to  take  on  wood,  and  they  always  stop- 
ped over  night  because  of  the  many  dangers  which  were  to  be 
encountered  in  the  tortuous  streams.  Striking  on  a  snag  and 
sinking  was  no  infrequent  occurrence. -=''  Twice  within  the 
same  season  the  "Cotton  Plant"  succumbed  to  that  fate,  but 
each  time  she  was  raised  and  sent  on  her  way. 

In  the  Tennessee  Valley  the  transportation  problem  was  pe- 
culiar. Hunts ville,  the  largest  town  in  the  region,  was  built 
around  a  great  spring  distant  some  ten  miles  from  the  River, 
and  at  a  considerable  distance  above  the  Shoals.  Florence  and 
Tuscumbia  grew  up  where  the  Natchez  Trace  crossed  the 
Shoals.  They  had  some  forwarding  business  in  connection 
with  the  shipping  down  the  Tennessee,  but  there  was  little  re- 
turn trade  in  the  early  years. 

The  first  steamboat  to  reach  Florence,  as  far  as  records 
show,  came  in  1821. 2«  From  that  time  forward  development 
was  rapid.  It  was  only  the  next  year  that  a  small  vessel,  the 
■"Rocket,"  was  commissioned  to  run  regularly  between  Flor- 
ence and  the  mouth  of  the  River,  depositing  its  cargo  at 
Trinity  to  be  forwarded  up  the  Ohio  or  down  the  Mississippi 
in  larger  vessels.-'"  Regular  lines  were  later  established  to 
connect  Tuscumbia  with  New  Orleans  and  the  towns  along 
the  Ohio.-"* 

Commercial  conditions  in  the  Tennessee  Valley  were  chang- 
ed by  these  improvements  in  communication.  The  shippers 
above  the  Shoals  continued  to  send  their  cotton  down  in  keel 
boats,  but  after  the  passage  over  the  rapids,  they  were  often 

23  Mobile  Argus,  Oct.  28,  1823. 

-'4  Mobile  Register,  Dec.  19,  1826. 

-•''  Saxe-Weimar,  Travels  through  North  Ameri<;a,  I,  32-38. 

-•'  Alabama  Republican,  March  16,  1821. 

•^7  Ibid.,  Jan.  18,  1822,  March  15,  1822. 

2"  Ibid.,  May  17,  1822;  T-uscnimbian,  Aug.  22,  1825,  May  8,  1826. 


RIVERS  AND  ROADS  79 

towed  to  New  Orleans  by  the  steamers,  or  their  cargoes  were 
transferred  to  the  larger  vessels.  Freight  rates  to  New  Or- 
leans fell  from  more  than  a  dollar  a  hundred-weight  to  eighty 
cents  in  1822  and  to  fifty  cents  in  1828.29 

Keel  boats  still  came  to  Florence  from  the  upper  waters  of 
the  Ohio,  and  merchants  in  the  vicinity  of  Huntsville  still 
brought  goods  down  from  Nashville;  but  the  steamboats 
which  came  up  to  Florence  brought  large  quantities  of  pro- 
duce from  New  Orleans,  and  this  came  to  be  the  main  source 
of  supply  for  the  entire  Valley  region. 

One  further  advance  in  transportation  facilities  was  made 
when,  in  1828,  the  little  steamer  "Atlas"  ascended  the  Shoals 
and  began  to  ply  the  Tennessee  and  Holston  Rivers  between 
the  rapids  and  the  town  of  Knoxville,  Tennessee.^^ 

The  introduction  of  steam  navigation  made  more  evident 
than  ever  the  desirability  of  overcoming  the  obstruction  at 
Muscle  Shoals  by  means  of  a  canal.  The  question  was  taken 
up  by  the  legislature  in  1823  and  continued  to  be  discussed 
during  following  years.  Two  successive  companies  were  in- 
corporated by  the  State  for  the  construction  of  the  desired 
canal,  but  the  proposition  did  not  prove  sufficiently  attract- 
ive to  private  investors  and  nothing  was  accomplished  along 
these  lines  of  endeavor.^i 

Hope  was  aroused  in  1824  by  an  act  of  Congress  which  ap- 
propriated money  for  the  survey  of  an  extensive  system  of  in- 
ternal improvements.  Calhoun,  then  Secretary  of  War,  was 
called  upon  to  submit  a  report  on  the  subject,  and  the  Muscle 
Shoals  canal  was  among  the  works  which  he  classed  as  of  na- 
tional importance. 3^  A  Government  survey  was  made  and  a 
report  submitted,  ^^  but  Congress  was  not  acknowledged  to 
have  the  right  to  appropriate  funds  for  the  construction  of 
such  works,  and  it  seemed  that  the  matter  would  drop  here. 
Yet  there  was  no  objection  to  the  donation  of  land  to  states 
for  the  purpose  of  internal  improvements,  and  in  1828  Con- 
gress granted  400,000  acres  of  relinquished  lands  in  the  Hunts- 
ville district,  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  which  were  to  be  ap- 

-^  Alabama  Republican,  Jan.  18,  1822;  Southern  Advocate,  March  14, 
1828. 

30  Southern  Advocate,  Feb.  15  and  March  14,  1828. 

31  Alabama,  Acts,  1823,  66-69;  Ibid.,  1828,  79-86;  Southern  Advocate, 
March  2,  1827. 

82  American  State  Papers,  Military,  II,  698-701. 

33  American  State  Papers,  Military,  IV,  13;  Huntsville  Democrat,  Ju- 
ly 11,  1828. 


80  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

plied  to  the  construction  of  a  steamboat  canal  around  the 
shoals.  3^ 

While  the  people  of  the  northern  section  of  the  State  were 
interesting  themselves  in  this  project,  those  of  south  Alabama 
were  working  for  a  canal  to  connect  the  waters  of  the  Tennes- 
see with  the  Alabama  River.  Such  a  canal  would  en- 
able the  inhabitants  of  east  Tennessee  and  west  Virginia  to 
ship  their  produce  to  Mobile,  which  was  a  much  closer  market 
than  New  Orleans.  But  the  main  consideration  was  that  the 
people  of  south  Alabama  would  be  able  to  purchase  their  flour, 
whisky,  and  pork  directly  from  east  Tennessee  instead  of 
having  to  bring  it  around  by  New  Orleans  and  Mobile. 

This  plan  did  not  look  unreasonable,  for  the  route  of  the 
canal  was  to  be  the  portage  between  the  Hiwassee  and  the 
Coosa,  and  this  covered  a  distance  of  only  twelve  miles,  with 
but  a  moderate  elevation  to  be  overcome.  The  legislature,  in 
order  to  enlist  the  support  of  both  sections  of  the  State,  made 
a  practice  of  dealing  with  both  canal  projects  at  the  same 
time.  A  company  was  incorporated  and  empowered  to  co-op- 
erate with  any  company  which  Tennessee  should  establish  for 
the  construction  of  the  Coosa-Hiwassee  canal,  the  reason  for 
this  being  that  the  site  of  the  proposed  work  lay  within  the 
lands  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  above  the  Tennessee  line."'''' 

Calhoun,  in  his  report  of  1824,  considered  the  Coosa-Hiwas- 
see canal,  but  classed  it  as  of  less  national  importance  than 
that  around  Muscle  Shoals.  Though  a  Government  survey 
was  made  and  a  report  presented, s^'  the  scheme  for  connecting 
the  waters  of  the  Alabama  and  Tennessee  did  not  recover  from 
this  set-back,  and  the  Muscle  Shoals  project  forged  ahead 
while  the  other  died  a  lingering  death. 

While  Alabama  was  divided  into  two  commercial  sections 
by  her  rivers,  the  roads  which  connected  her  with  the  rest  of 
the  country  did  not  tend  to  draw  these  two  sections  together. 
There  were  two  main  routes  of  travel  connecting  Washington 
M'ith  New  Orleans :  the  one  which  passed  through  Richmond, 
Raleigh,  Columbia,  Milledgeville,  and  Montgomery  to  Mobile; 
and  the  one  which  passed  into  the  Valley  of  Virginia  at  Rock- 
fish  Gap,  threaded  the  Valley  and  then  followed  the  course  of 
the  Holston  to  Knoxville.  From  Knoxville,  it  passed  to 
Huntsville,  then  on  to  Tuscumbia  at  Muscle  Shoals,  and  fol- 

84  statutes  at  Large,  IV,  290. 
3'^  Alabama,  Acts,  1823,  62-66. 
sn  House  Executive  Documents,  No.  15,  20  Cong.,  2  Sess.,  Vol.  I. 


RIVERS  AND  ROADS  81 

lowed  the  Natchez  Trace  to  New  Orleans.  In  addition  to 
these,  there  was  one  other  important  route  of  travel  between 
the  East  and  the  Southwest.  This  was  a  continuation  of  the 
National  Highway  from  Cumberland  ■  on  the  Potomac  to 
Wheeling.  Passing  from  Zanesville,  Ohio,  to  Maysville,  Ken- 
tucky, it  ran  on  through  Lexington  and  Nashville,  joining  the 
Natchez  Trace  at  Muscle  Shoals. 

Most  of  the  travelers  journeying  from  the  East  to  New  Or- 
leans took  the  route  through  the  Southern  capitals.  Some  of 
them,  instead  of  going  all  the  way  to  Mobile  before  embark- 
ing, took  boat  at  Montgomery  and  made  the  circuitous  voyage 
down  the  river  rather  than  endure  longer  the  hardships  of 
the  road.  Hodgson,  who  passed  this  way  in  1820,  took  the 
land  route  to  Mobile, •=■  but  Lafayette  took  the  water  course 
when  he  came  in  1825,=*^  and  so  did  the  Duke  of  Saxe- Weimar 
-who  followed  in  1828.=''* 

A  journey  over  the  roads  of  that  day  was  a  real  undertak- 
ing. The  traveler  had  to  content  himself  with  log  cabin  ac- 
commodations as  he  passed  through  the  forests,  and  the  inns 
of  the  towns  were  not  attractive.  It  was  a  frequent 
occurrence  for  vehicles  to  be  upset  at  some  danger  to  life  and 
limb,  and  consequently  most  of  the  traveling  was  done  on 
horseback.  The  building  of  a  road  consisted  merely  in  cut- 
ting a  passage  through  the  woods,  the  stumps  being  left  sev- 
eral inches  above  the  ground.  Bogs  were  traversed  by  cause- 
ways made  of  small  logs  placed  close  together  across 
the  road  with  dirt  thrown  on  top.  Bridges  were  not 
ordinarily  built  across  the  fordable  streams,  but  ferries  were 
established  at  the  crossings  of  the  rivers. 

Instead  of  going  through  the  Southern  capitals,  the  mail 
from  Washington  to  New  Orleans  went  through  the  Valley 
of  Virginia  and  by  Huntsville  until  1827.  From  Huntsville  it 
was  carried  to  Tuscumbia  and  thence  followed  the  Natchez 
Trace. ^'*  As  far  as  Huntsville,  there  was  something  that  could 
be  called  a  road,  but  the  Natchez  Trace  was  reported  to  be 
nothing  more  than  a  broad  grass  path.^^  The  route  was  cir- 
cuitous, and  in  1816  Congress  made  an  appropriation  to  en- 
able Andrew  Jackson  to  cut  a  more  direct  road  from  Tennes- 

3"  Hodgson,  Letters  from  North  America,  I,  39  et  seq. 

3S  Levasseur,  Lafayette  en  Amerique,  II,  345. 

^i>  Saxe-Weimar,  Travels  Through  North  AmeHca,  I,  32-38. 

^"  House  Reports,  No.  48,  20  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  I,  176. 

«i  Hodgson,  Letters  from  North  America,  I,  273. 


82  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

see  to  New  Orleans.^-  The  troops  were  employed  on  this 
work,  which  was  begun  in  1817  and  completed  in  1820.  It 
diverged  from  the  old  Trace  road  at  Muscle  Shoals,  and,  pass- 
ing Columbus,  Mississippi,  on  the  Tombigbee  River,  took  a 
straight  course  to  Madisonville,  opposite  New  Orleans  on  Lake 
Ponchartrain.^"^ 

This  Military  Road,  as  it  was  called,  was  forty  feet  wide, 
had  bridges  over  the  smaller  streams,  and  well  constructed 
causeways  over  the  marshy  places.  But  no  provisions  were 
made  for  keeping  it  in  repair,  and  since  the  Trace  road  passed 
through  the  towns  on  the  Mississippi  while  the  Military  Road 
lay  through  a  region  largely  uninhabited,  the  latter  was  allow- 
ed to  fall  into  disuse.  By  1824  the  bridges  had  mostly  been 
washed  away  and  a  growth  of  young  trees  was  flourishing  in 
the  road  itself.  Though  it  was  intended  that  the  mail  should 
have  passed  this  way  to  New  Orleans,  it  became  necessary 
to  cross  over  below  Columbus  and  continue  to  take  it  along 
the  old  Trace  route.-** 

Though  the  road  to  Huntsville  was  at  first  a  mere  branch 
of  the  main  thoroughfare  between  Knoxville  and  Nashville, 
it  afforded  a  more  direct  route  to  New  Orleans  and  this  fact 
was  recognized  by  sending  the  mail  this  way  after  1822.  In 
1820  Huntsville  was  made  the  terminus  of  the  first  stage  line 
in  Alabama.  This  connected  with  the  main  line  between 
Knoxville  and  Nashville,  and  at  first  the  service  was  only  once 
a  week.^5  This  was  increased  in  1823  to  two  trips  each  way 
every  week.**'  In  1825  an  increase  to  three  trips  a  week  was 
made,  and  the  line  was  extended  to  Tuscumbia.*'  Stages  also 
connected  Tuscumbia  with  Kentucky  and  Ohio  by  the  route 
through  Zanesville,  Lexington,  and  Nashville.*^  But  below 
Tuscumbia,  the  river  did  not  permit  of  continuous  navigation 
and  the  Natchez  Trace  did  not  permit  of  stages.  Consequent- 
's statutes  at  Large,  III,  315;  American  State  Papers,  Military,  IV, 
627. 

43  American  State  Papers,  Miscellaneous,  II,  537;  Alabama  Republi- 
can, Dec.  17,  1819,  and  June  9,  1820;  Jackson  Papers,  Wm.  H.  Crawford 
to  Andrew  Jackson,  March  8,  1816,  W.  Young  to  Jackson,  March  14, 
1817. 

*^  American  State  Papers,  P.  0.  Dept.,  119-120;  Tuscumbian,  Nov.  12, 
1824. 

■♦''  Alabama  Republican,  May  6,  1820. 

4rt  Ibid.,  Aug.  16  and  Sept.  13,  1822. 

*'  Tuscumbian,  April  11,  1825. 

'♦'<  American  State  Papers,  P.  0.  Dept.,  241;  Southern  Advocate,  Sept. 
4,  1827. 


RIVERS  AND  ROADS  83 

ly,  from  Tuscumbia  to  New  Orleans  the  mails  were  still  car- 
ried on  horseback. 

The  route  through  the  Southern  capitals,  instead  of  parallel- 
ing the  streams  as  did  the  one  through  Huntsville,  crossed 
them  and  hence  was  more  subject  to  interruption  from  swol- 
len waters.  Though  it  lay  through  more  populous  com- 
munities than  did  the  western  route,  the  through  mail  be- 
tween Washington  and  New  Orleans  was  not  carried  along  it 
until  the  latter  part  of  1827.^"  This  accounts  for  the  later 
development  of  stage  facilities  on  the  road  between  Milledge- 
ville,  Montgomery,  and  Mobile.  The  first  stage  route  from 
Montgomery  eastward  was  established  in  1821.  At  first  only 
one  trip  a  week  was  made,  but  this  was  increased  in  1823  to 
two  trips  weekly.  Not  until  1826  was  there  a  regular  line 
established  between  Montgomery  and  Milledgeville  giving 
three  trips  weekly."'"  It  was  during  the  next  year  that  the 
through  mail  to  New  Orleans  began  to  come  this  way.  It  was 
carried  from  Montgomery  to  Mobile  in  two-horse  wagons, 
from  Mobile  to  Pascagoula  by  sulkey,  and  from  Pascagoula  to 
New  Orleans  by  steam  packet.'^' 

This  is  as  far  as  the  development  of  transportation  through 
Alabama  went  during  the  period  under  review,  but  a  great 
deal  of  futile  discussion  was  aroused  by  the  Congressional 
act  of  1824  which  provided  for  the  survey  of  a  system  of  in- 
ternal improvements.  Calhoun,  in  hie  report  on  the  subject, 
stated  that  a  highway  from  Washington  to  New  Orleans  would 
be  best  calculated  to  further  the  interests  of  that  section  and 
of  the  country  lying  south  of  the  Capitol  City ;  and  the  survey 
of  three  separate  routes  was  planned.  The  first  of  these  was 
to  intersect  the  eastward-flowing  rivers  at  their  fall  lines; 
the  second  was  to  lie  between  this  and  the  Appalachian  Moun- 
tains; and  the  third  was  to  pass  down  the  valley  beyond  the 
mountains."'-  The  surveys  were  accordingly  made.  The  routes 
recommended  in  the  first  two  cases  were  already  followed  by 
lines  of  travel.  The  first  one  lay  through  the  Southern  capi- 
tals, passing  on  to  Mobile.  The  second  diverged  from  this  in 
northern  Virginia  and  passed  through  the  piedmont  towns  of 
Petersburg,  Salisbury,  Greenville,  and  Athens,  rejoining  the 


^!'  House  Reports,  No.  48,  20  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  176. 

•'(•  Blue,  Hixtory  of  Montgovieri^,  11-12;  Alabama  Journal,  June  23  and 
30,  1826. 

ni  Mobile  Register,  Nov.  24,  1827;  House  Reports,  No.  63,  20  Cong.,  2. 

•v/American  State  Papers,  Military,  III,  137-138. 


84  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

other  route  near  where  it  entered  Alabama.  But  the  third 
route  differed  from  that  already  established.  After  passing 
through  the  valley  of  Virginia  to  Knoxville,  instead  of  pro- 
ceeding to  Huntsville,  it  followed  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee 
to  where  Chattanooga  now  stands,  then,  paralleling  Lookout 
Mountain,  passed  into  the  valley  of  the  Cahawba.  From 
Centreville,  at  the  falls  of  the  Cahawba,  it  turned  westward 
and  passed  out  of  the  State  by  way  of  Demopolis.''"' 

This  route  followed  the  course  of  the  rivers  and  valleys,  and, 
theoretically,  was  perhaps  the  best.  But  it  had  the  disad- 
vantage of  Jackson's  Military  Road  in  that  it  did  not  follow 
an  established  route  of  travel.  The  Huntsville  people  pro- 
claimed loudly  that  the  route  through  their  town  should  be 
surveyed,  and  they  had  their  way."'^  The  mail  then  took  this 
course  to  New  Orleans,  and  the  Postmaster  General  favored 
the  route.  After  the  survey  was  made,  no  further  action  was 
ever  taken.  The  Old  South  stood  opposed  to  the  policy  of  in- 
ternal improvements,  and,  shortly,  with  Jackson's  aid,  it  was 
able  to  restrain  the  desires  of  those  who  would  have  the  gen- 
eral Government  construct  a  system  of  communication  for  the 
country. 

Commercially  distant  as  were  the  two  sections  of  Alabama, 
there  was  necessarily  some  communication  between  them.  The 
first  route  traveled  from  north  to  south  seems  to  have  been 
the  portage  between  the  Muscle  Shoals  and  the  head  of  navi- 
gation on  the  Tombigbee  at  Cotton  Gin  Port.  Pioneers  floating 
down  the  Tennessee  took  this  trail  in  order  to  reach  the  settle- 
ments in  the  neighborhood  of  St.  Stephens."'-''  Jackson,  in 
the  Creek  War,  cut  a  road  from  Huntsville  southward  through 
the  country  east  of  the  Coosa  River  and  on  to  the  place  where 
Fort  Jackson  was  established  at  the  confluence  of  the  Coosa 
with  the  Tallapoosa. •'"'•■'  By  this  route  travelers  were  enabled 
to  reach  the  Federal  Road  in  the  neighborhood  of  Montgom- 
ery. 

Yet  there  was  but  one  passage  between  north  and  south 
Alabama  which  came  to  be  traveled  with  frequency,  and  that 

•'•3  House  Executive  Documents,  No.  156,  19  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  IX;  House 
Reports,  No.  48,  20  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  I;  American  State  Papers,  Military, 
III,  109;  Huntsville  Democrat,  Sept.  7,  1827. 

5-t  House  Executive  Documents,  No.  125,  20  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  Ill;  South- 
em  Advocate;  Jan.  13,  1826,  letter  from  Gabriel  Moore. 

sJi  Pickett,  History  of  Alabnma,  466-479. 

•'•«  Streit,  Marshall  County,  VIII. 


RIVERS  AND  ROADS  85 

was  the  one  which  led  from  Huntsville  through  Jones  Valley 
to  Tuscaloosa  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Black  Warri- 
or.57  The  road  through  the  Valley  was  good,  and  much  pro- 
duce came  down  from  Tennessee  and  reached  central  and 
southern  Alabama  by  this  way.^^ 

5T  Warden,  United  States,  III,  39. 

58  Alabama  Republican,  March  1,  1822. 


Chapter  IX. 


THE  COMMERCIAL  SITUATION. 

The  lack  of  a  well  developed  financial  system  in  the  United 
States  rendered  commercial  transactions  much  more  compli- 
cated in  the  'twenties  than  similar  business  would  be  today. 
Instead  of  a  currency  resting  upon  the  credit  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  of  uniform  value,  there  were  only  bank  notes,  the 
value  of  which  depended  upon  the  credit  of  the  issuing  banks. 

The  first  Bank  of  the  United  States  had  done  much  to  stabi- 
lize the  condition  of  the  currency,  but  this  institution  had  gone 
out  of  operation  in  1811  and  the  end  of  the  War  of  1812  found 
the  country  flooded  with  paper  money  which  was  no  longer 
redeemed  in  specie  by  the  banks  which  issued  it.  It  was  during 
this  period  that  settlers  began  to  find  their  way  into  the  Ala- 
bama country  in  increasing  numbers,  and  practically  the 
only  money  which  permeated  this  frontier  consisted  of  the 
depreciated  notes  of  the  banks  of  Georgia. ^ 

It  has  been  explained-  how  the  state  banks  were  forced  to 
resume  specie  payments  when  the  second  Bank  of  the  United 
States  went  into  operation  in  1817,  and  how  the  immigrants  to 
Alabama  were  supplied  with  funds  by  the  numerous  new  banks 
which  sprang  up  in  Tennessee  and  Kentucky  in  1818.  But 
the  financial  stress  of  1819  caused  these  institutions  to  close 
their  doors  and  leave  their  notes  to  circulate  at  a  depreciated 
value  in  the  western  country. 

In  1816  the  legislature  of  Mississippi  Territory  had  charter- 
ed the  Merchants'  and  Planters'  Bank  of  Huntsville,  and  in 
1818  the  Tombeckbee  Bank  of  St.  Stephens  and  the  Bank  of 
Mobile  were  chartered  by  the  Alabama  Territory.  The  two 
last-named  of  these  institutions  were  not  seriously  affected 
by  the  events  in  Tennessee,  for  there  were  few  commercial 
ties  between  south  Alabama  and  that  State ;  but  the  interests 
of  the  Huntsville  region  were  closely  bound  up  with  those  of 
the  region  to  the  northward,  and  the  Huntsville  bank  was 
necessarily  influenced  by  the  affairs  of  the  banks  of  Tennes- 
see. 

1  Riley,  Conecuh  County,  22-25. 

2  Chapter  VI. 


THE  COMMERCIAL  SITUATION  87 

The  West  was  a  debtor  section ;  it  owed  for  lands,  for  slaves, 
for  goods.  The  East  was  creditor  and  had  to  be  paid.  But 
when  the  banks  of  Tennessee  suspended  specie  payments, 
their  notes  were  no  longer  available  for  remittance  to  the 
East.  One  way  around  the  difficulty  lay  in  purchasing 
Huntsville  notes  with  the  Tennessee  notes,  and  drawing  spe- , 
cie  on  the  former.  This  was  done,  and  so  great  was  the  drain 
on  the  specie  reserve  of  the  Huntsville  bank  that  it  felt  itself 
forced  to  suspend  payments  in  1820.^  Its  notes  continued  to  be 
used,  but  they  fell  below  par  and  ysually  circulated  on  an 
equality  with  notes  from  Tennessee.  Specie  and  the  notes  of 
specie-paying  banks,  being  at  a  premium,  ceased  to  pass  from 
hand  to  hand,  and  north  Alabama  was  left  with  a  depreciated 
currencj*^.^ 

The  value  of  a  bank  note  depended  not  only  upon  the  solvency 
of  the  issuing  institution,  but  upon  the  chance  of  presenting 
it  for  payment  in  specie.  Thus  the  value  of  a  note  in  a  locality 
at  some  distance  from  the  place  of  issue  would  depend  upon 
the  commercial  relations  between  the  two  places.  If  the  mer- 
chants who  held  the  notes  had  no  remittances  to  make  to  the 
place  where  they  could  be  redeemed,  they  would  have  to  bear 
the  expense  of  sending  them  for  redemption  and  bringing  back 
the  specie.  The  value  of  the  notes  would  be  diminished  by 
the  amount  of  this  expense.  If,  for  instance,  it  cost  five  per 
cent,  to  collect  in  this  way,  notes  would  be  worth  only  ninety- 
five  per  cent,  of  their  face  value.  But  if  the  merchants  had 
remittances  to  make,  notes  would  be  more  convenient  for  that 
purpose  than  specie  and  they  would  command  their  full  value. 
In  fact,  if  the  remittance  to  be  made  outran  the  supply  of 
notes,  the  value  of  these  might  rise  above  their  face  value  oy 
the  amount  that  it  would  cost  to  ship  specie  in  their  stead. 
For  instance,  if  it  cost  three  dollars  to  send  a  hundred  in  spe- 
cie, a  hundred  dollar  note  would  be  worth  a  hundred  and  three 
dollars  to  a  merchant  who  had  remittances  to  m^ke. 

This  situation  is  brought  out  by  the  condition  of  affairs  in 
Alabama.  The  Georgia  and  South  Carolina  notes,  which 
formed  the  bulk  of  currency  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State 
were  worth  about  four  per  cent,  less  than  specie  in  the  Ten- 
nessee Valley  because  there  was  very  little  business  between 

3  American  State  Papers,  Finance,  III,  765-766. 

*  Alabama  Republican,  Sept.  22,  1820,  advertisement  of  P.  Yeatman 
&  Co.;  Ibid.,  Oct.  6,  1820;  r.lso  stati.=;tics  c;  llectcd  on  bank  note  exchange 
from  newspapers. 


88  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

that  section  and  the  country  directly  to  the  south  or  east  of  it. 
The  notes  of  New  Orleans  banks  were  usually  on  a  par  with 
these  because  the  cotton  sent  down  to  the  City  was  more  than 
sufficient  to  cover  all  remittances  for  goods.  But,  on  the  oth- 
er hand,  the  notes  on  Virginia  banks  and  on  the  banks  of  Bal- 
timore, Philadelphia,  and  New  York  were  always  nearly 
equal  to  specie  because  the  Tennessee  Valley  imported 
its  manufactured  goods  through  the  Eastern  cities 
and  obtained  its  agricultural  produce  from  the  Ohio 
River  region  and  from  Tennessee.  Eastern  notes  could  be 
used  to  pay  the  East  directly,  or  they  could  be  employed  with 
equal  facility  to  pay  the  West,  for  the  latter  section  was  in 
debt  to  the  former  and  anxious  to  have  funds  for  remittance."' 

So  difficult  was  communication  between  the  two  sections  of 
the  State  that  the  trade  of  the  southern  section  was  entirely 
distinct  from  that  of  the  northern.  Not  only  did  the  towns 
along  the  rivers  send  their  cotton  down  to  Mobile,  but  the  cen- 
tral hilly  region  also  forwarded  its  crop  by  way  of  Tuscaloosa 
and  Montgomery.  Some  of  the  staple  was  shipped  directly 
from  Mobile  to  European  ports,  but  the  greater  part  of  it  went 
to  Eastern  cities,  principally  New  York.'^  An  amount  almost 
as  great,  consisting  largely  of  the  best  grades,  which  could 
be  passed  off  as  the  Louisiana  product,  was  sent  to  New  Or- 
leans to  pay  for  the  corn,  pork,  flour,  and  whisky  which  came 
down  from  the  Ohio  River  region  and  which  were  purchased  by 
the  merchants  of  Mobile  to  be  sent  up  the  Alabama  and  Tom- 
bigbee  Rivers  to  the  interior  of  the  State.' 

In  the  trade  between  Mobile  and  the  Eastern  cities,  there 
was  a  balance  in  favor  of  Mobile,  more  cotton  being  shipped 
than  was  necessary  to  pay  for  the  imports  which  were  receiv- 
ed in  return.  As  a  result,  there  was  a  balance  due  the  South- 
ern merchants  which  had  to  be  paid  in  cash.  But  in  the  trade 
with  New  Orleans  the  cotton  shipped  was  not  sufficient  to 
pay  for  the  produce  that  was  imported,  and  the  Mobile  mer- 
chants had  to  use  their  cash  to  pay  the  difference.^  In  other 
words,  the  money  which  the  planters  of  southern  Alabama  re- 
ceived for  their  cotton  was  spent  largely  in  payment  for  corn, 

•''  Statistics  on  bank  note  exchange  in  Huntsville  and  Tuscumbia,  col- 
lected from  newspapers. 

'■•  Mobile  Register,  Oct.  5,  1824.  Exports  for  the  year  1824  included 
14,990  bales  of  cotton  to  New  York,  13,094  to  New  Orleans,  and  8,778  to 
Liverpool. 

-Mobile  Register,  Nov.  7,  1822;  Feb.  17,  1824. 

•"*  Biddle  Papers,  John  Hunter  to  Nicholas  Riddle,  Jan.  6,  1827. 


THE  COMMERCIAL  SITUATION  89 

pork,  flour,  and  whisky  which  were  brought  down  the  Ohio 
and  Cumberland  Rivers  to  New  Orleans,  and  shipped  thence  to 
Mobile. 

The  larger  planters  usually  went  down  to  Mobile  once  a 
year  to  transact  their  business  with  the  merchants  of  the  port ; 
but  the  smaller  producers  had  to  do  their  business  with  coun- 
try merchants  who  bought  their  goods  in  Mobile  and  trans- 
ported them  to  the  interior.  These  merchants  did  a  local 
"factorage"  business,  which  consisted  in  "advancing"  supplies 
to  farmers  and  taking  their  cotton  in  payment  when  the  crop 
was  made,  a  balance  being  struck  once  a  year.  The  trans- 
actions between  the  larger  planters  and  the  merchants  in  the 
principal  towns  were  perhaps  frequently  on  this  same  basis.^ 
This  was  the  method  whereby  the  cotton  producer  secured 
capital  to  finance  his  operations  throughout  the  year.  This  cap- 
ital was  obtained  from  the  local  merchants  in  the  first  in- 
stance, but  these  dealers  were  financed  by  the  Eastern  mer- 
chants for  whom  they  purchased  the  staple;  and  in  this  way 
the  East  furnished  capital  for  the  production  of  cotton. 

During  the  early  'twenties,  when  the  country  was  just  be- 
ing opened  up,  money  was  scarce  in  southern  Alabama  and 
many  complaints  were  heard  upon  the  subject  ;i<>  yet  the 
notes  of  the  local  banks,  as  well  as  those  of  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia,  furnished  a  sound,  though  limited,  currency.^! 
So  complete  was  the  commercial  separation  between  the  two 
sections  of  the  State,  that  each  kept  to  its  own  medium  of  ex- 
change with  practically  no  interference  from  the  other.     Aft- 

^  See  The  Cotton  Factorage  System  of  the  Southeiii  States,  by  Alfred 
H.  Stone,  Avierican  Historical  Review,  XX,  557-565.  This  system  came 
to  be  the  usual  practice,  but  whether  it  was  completely  developed  during 
the  'twenties  cannot  be  stated  definitely.  Merchants  frequently  adver- 
tised that  they  would  advance  on  cotton  turned  over  to  them  for  ship- 
ment, but  a  committee  of  the  legislature  estimated  in  1826  that  two-thirds 
of  the  cotton  shipped  to  Mobile  was  sold  by  the  negotiation  of  bills  of 
exchange,  and  the  banks  of  that  town  did  a  large  business  in  such  paper. 
The  fact  that  the  planters  received  payments  in  these  bills  indicates  that 
the  local  merchants  were  hardly  more  than  purchasing  agents  for  their 
Eastern  correspondents. 

Another  indication  of  sales  on  a  cash  basis  is  the  prevalence  of  auc- 
tions in  Mobile  at  this  time.  It  was  customary  to  beat  a  drum  as  an 
announcement  of  the  sale,  and  the  noise  made  in  this  way  came  to  be 
such  a  nuisance  that  complaint  was  made  in  the  newspapers.  But  coun- 
try merchants  doubtless  made  advances  to  the  small  producers  in  their 
neighborhood  from  the  very  first.  See  Alabama,  House  Journal,  1826, 
80;  Southern  Advocate,  May  12,  1826;  Mobile  Register,  April  21,  1823, 
and  Jan.  17,  1824. 

10  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1819,  188-190. 

11  American  State  Papers,  Finance,  IV,  745. 


90  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

er  business  conditions  became  more  settled,  the  notes  of  South 
Carolina  and  Georgia  banks  ceased  to  pass  at  their  face  value 
because  of  the  lack  of  trade  between  Mobile  and  those  states. 
A  currency  sufficient  for  practical  purposes  was  furnished 
by  local  banks,  the  Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  New 
Orleans  banks,  i- 

The  specie  foundation  upon  which  all  these  notes  rested  was 
very  slight,  judged  by  modern  standards  of  safety.  Both 
gold  and  silver  were  legal  tender,  according  to  law,  but  ac- 
cording to  the  market  prices  of  the  metals,  a  gold  dollar  was 
worth  more  than  was  one  of  silver.  The  result  of  this  situation 
was  that  silver  passed  from  hand  to  hand,  while  gold  was 
withdrawn  from  circulation  and  a  premium  had  to  be  paid  to 
obtain  it. 

But  even  silver  was  scarce.  There  had  been  a  profit  made 
out  of  sending  silver  dollars  to  Latin-American  countries  and 
exchanging  them  on  equal  terms  for  the  Spanish  dollars,  or 
pieces  of  eight  reak,  which  were  a  little  heavier.  These  for- 
eign coins  were  brought  back  and  melted  down  because  the 
silver  in  them  was  worth  a  little  more  than  a  dollar  according 
to  our  monetary  standard.  Hence  there  was  left  for  circula- 
tion in  this  country  only  the  Spanish  dollars  which  were  too 
light  to  afford  a  profit  in  the  bullion  market,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  fractional  Spanish  coin. 

This  situation  had  caused  Jefferson  to  suspend  the  coinage 
of  silver  dollars  in  1806  and  none  had  been  produced  since. i-' 
Spanish,  Mexican,  and  other  foreign  coins  made  up  our  supply 
of  specie,  and  it  afforded  a  very  light  reserve  against  the 
notes  which  were  issued  by  the  banks,  nor  were  there  nearly 
enough  of  the  smaller  coins  to  serve  the  ordinary  purposes  of 
trade.  A  remedy  was  sought  in  the  issue  of  "change  tickets," 
which  were  merely  bits  of  paper  purporting  to  be  worth 
twenty-five,  fifty  or  seventy-five  cents.  They  were  signed 
by  the  issuer  and  were  supposed  to  be  redeemable  for  specie, 
but,  since  there  was  a  demand  for  them,  they  were  expected 
to  remain  afloat.  This  was  a  very  profitable  form  of  printing 
and  it  was  indulged  in  by  business  houses  and  municipal  au- 
thorities.^^ The  irregularity  in  the  issuance  of  such  tickets 
made  this  practice  a  great  nuisance  to  the  community.  For- 
geries were  easy,  and  the  country  was  flooded  with  the  paper 

^■■i  Mobile  Register,  Oct.  29,  1823,  and  Aug.  30,  1828. 

13  White,  Money  and  Banking,  33-34. 

14  Alabama  Republican,  Nov.  10,  1820. 


THE  COMMERCIAL  SITUATION  91 

of  various  uncertain  houses.  These  considerations  finally  in- 
duced the  State  to  take  the  matter  up ;  the  issuance  of  change 
tickets  by  private  firms  was  forbidden  and  the  government 
undertook  to  furnish  the  people  with  a  lawful  supply.^"' 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  currency  in  Alabama ;  but  the 
man  who  had  cotton  to  sell  was  affected  not  only  by  local  con- 
ditions, but  by  national  and  international  trade  relations  as 
welL  The  crop  of  Alabama  was  sold  largely  through  Mobile 
and  New  Orleans  merchants,  who  in  turn  disposed  of  the  bulk 
of  it,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  British  market.  The  Amer- 
ican merchant  collected  his  account  by  drawing  a  bill  of  ex- 
change on  the  British  purchaser  and  disposing  of  this  to  some 
other  American  merchant  who  was  in  need  of  funds  to  remit 
to  England. 

During  the  period  following  the  War  of  1812,  America  was 
importing  more  than  she  was  exporting  and  the  bills  of  ex- 
change drawn  by  exporters  were  not  sufficient  to  meet  the 
demand  of  the  importers  who  needed  funds  for  remittance. 
Th  result  was  that  some  of  the  importers  had  to  send  gold  to 
pay  their  debt  and  this  operation  cost  about  ten  per  cent.  It 
normally  cost  only  about  five  per  cent,  to  ship  gold  to  England, 
but  that  country  was  on  a  gold  basis  and  nothing  but  silver 
was  circulating  in  this  country.  Consequently,  the  man  who 
had  a  remittance  to  make  in  specie  had  to  take  silver  at  the 
current  rate  and  purchase  gold  with  it  at  about  five  per  cent, 
advance.  This  premium  on  gold,  added  to  the  expense  of 
shipment,  accounts  for  the  ten  per  cent,  which  it  cost  to  send 
specie  to  London.  Now  the  man  who  could  buy  a  bill  of  ex- 
change on  London  to  cover  his  debt  was  willing  to  pay — and 
the  competition  for  such  bills  forced  him  to  pay — a  premium 
of  about  ten  per  cent,  over  its  face  value.^" 

The  Mobile  merchants  usually  transacted  their  foreign  bus- 
iness through  New  York  firms,  and  received  the  proceeds  of 
their  foreign  exchange  in  drafts  on  New  York.  Since,  after 
the  first  few  years  of  expansion,  the  cotton  crop  of  south  Ala- 
bama brought  in  more  of  these  than  could  be  used  for  remit- 
tances to  New  York,  the  balance  had  to  be  sent  for  collection 
in  specie,  and  it  cost  about  three  per  cent,  to  bring  the  specie 
from  New  York  to  Mobile.  Hence  New  York  paper  passed 
at  about  three  per  cent,  below  its  face  value  in  the  Alabama 
port,  and  the  local  merchant,  not  caring  to  stand  the  loss  of 

1"'  Ibid.,  May  18,  1821,  June  29,  1821;  Cahawba  Press,  June  8,  1822. 
^''Statistics  on   London  exchange,  collected  from     newspapers;      Ala- 
bama Republican,  Feb.  12,  1822,  extract  from  the  National  Gazette. 


92  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

the  three  per  cent.,  made  a  practice  of  remitting  to  the  plant- 
er in  New  York  funds,  leaving*  the  latter  to  pay  the  cost  of 
converting  them  into  current  money. i'  Yet,  as  a  total  result, 
there  was  a  gain  of  about  seven  per  cent,  to  the  cotton  pro- 
ducer because  of  the  condition  of  trade-balance  between  the 
cotton  region  and  the  East  on  the  one  hand,  and  between  this 
Country  and  England  on  the  other. 

It  must  not  be  understood  from  this  discussion,  however, 
that  there  was  a  trade  balance  in  favor  of  Alabama  as  against 
the  rest  of  the  world  and  that  specie  was  pouring  in.  While 
money  was  coming  in  from  New  York,  it  was  all  going  out  in 
other  directions,  and  the  State  was  accumulating  no  capital  in 
cash.  Like  all  newly  opened  country,  Alabama  was  in  debt.^^ 
The  settlers  owed  for  their  lands  and  slaves,  and  for  consum- 
able goods.  What  they  made  from  their  crops,  they  invested 
in  their  establishments  and  there  was  no  capital  for  commerci- 
al enterprises.  This  was  doubtless  due  largely  to  the  fact 
that  cotton  planting  was  the  only  occupation  which  was  sure 
to  give  social  prestige.  Merchandising  was  carried  on  to  a 
large  extent  by  men  from  the  North,  and  it  was  not  regarded 
with  great  esteem  by  the  agricultural  community.  The  mer- 
chant was  likely  to  be  looked  upon  by  the  planter  as  a  grasping 
inferior,  while  the  poor  man  was  apt  to  consider  him  an  eco- 
nomic enemy. 

Speculation,  land  grabbing,  and  graft  of  all  kinds  were  the 
necessary  accompaniments  of  a  rush  into  new  country 
where  all  were  scrambling  for  a  place  and  where  the  strong 
could  use  his  strength  to  greatest  advantage  against  the  weak. 
The  man  without  capital  was  largely  at  the  mercy  of  him  who 
had  it,  as  is  well  illustrated  by  the  situation  in  regard  to  the 
sale  of  the  public  lands. 

The  planter  who  bought  his  land  and  settled  down  to  the 
business  of  raising  cotton  was  not  looked  on  with  disfavor  by 
any  part  of  the  people,  for  his  profits  did  not  come  from  his 
neighbors.  But  the  man  who  used  his  capital  in  a  commercial 
way  made  his  profits  largely  out  of  the  community,  and  he 
often  made  too  much.  Thus  the  poorer  men  frequently  looked 
with  suspicion  upon  those  who  did  business  with  them,  which 
fact  manifests  itself  forcibly  in  connection  with  the  banking 
question. 

17  Alabama,  House  Journal,  1826,  80;  American  State  Papers,  Finance, 
III,  762;  statistics  on  domestic  exchange,  collected  from  newspapers. 
i"  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1821,  21,  Message  of  Governor  Pickens. 


Chapter  X. 


THE  BANK  QUESTION. 

The  money  which  cotton  brought  into  Alabama  during  the 
'twenties  went  out  largely  through  the  land  offices  and  for 
slaves,  and  the  State  was  left  without  commercial  capital. 
Funds  were  needed  to  finance  the  cotton  crop ;  to  promote  ag- 
ricultural expansion ;  and,  especially,  to  furnish  the  basis  for  a 
sufficient  circulating  medium.  The  first  of  these  needs  was 
met  by  the  New  York  cotton  dealers,  for  they  financed  mer- 
chants in  the  South  who  bought  the  staple  on  their  account; 
agricultural  expansion  was  provided  for  by  the  planter's  rein- 
vestment of  his  profits;  but  there  seemed  to  be  no  means  of 
securing  a  sufficient  circulating  medium  except  by  local 
banks,  and  this  expedient  was  resorted  to. 

The  difficult  problem  was  to  obtain  sufficient  capital  for 
investment  in  banking  enterprises.  As  such  institutions  are 
conducted  today,  with  solid  value  behind  their  paper  dollars, 
they  do  not  add  greatly  to  the  capital  of  the  community,  being 
merely  organizations  for  its  efficient  use.  If  this  had  been 
the  case  in  1820,  they  would  not  have  met  the  requirements  of 
the  Southwest.  A  multiplication  of  capital  was  expected  of 
them — the  creation  of  money  where  none  existed  before.  Yet 
promising  as  were  the  prospects  of  these  money-making  ma- 
chines, men  would  have  invested  their  funds  in  lands  rather 
than  in  banks  had  they  not  expected  to  borrow  more  than  they 
put  in — so  great  was  the  lure  of  cotton  in  the  eyes  of  the 
planting  community.  This  situation  must  be  understood  be- 
fore the  bank  question  can  be  made  clear. 

The  charter  of  the  Merchants'  and  Planters'  Bank  of  Hunts- 
ville  was  granted  by  the  legislature  of  Mississippi  Territory 
in  1816,  while  the  Mobile  and  St.  Stephens  banks  were  grant- 
ed theirs  by  the  legislature  of  Alabama  Territory  in  1818,  yet 
the  provisions  of  all  three  documents  were  very  similar.  The 
capital  of  each  institution  was  limited  to  half  a  million  dol- 
lars, a  minority  of  which  was  reserved  to  the  territorial  gov- 
ernment in  each  case ;  no  interest  over  six  per  cent,  might  be 
charged ;  and  the  issue  of  notes  was  not  to  exceed  three  times 


94  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

the  amount  of  capital  actually  paid  in.'  This  last  provision 
indicates  that  the  authorities  were  more  solicitous  for  a  cur- 
rency than  they  were  for  financial  safety.  They  evidently 
expected  the  banks  to  be  money-manufacturing  institutions, 
and  their  hopes  were  not  disappointed. 

In  September,  1818,  the  Tombeckbee  Bank,  of  St.  Stephens, 
went  into  operation  with  only  $7,700  of  its  stock  subscribed 
for.  Israel  Pickens,  a  lawyer  of  St.  Stephens,  and  register 
of  the  land  office  there,  was  elected  president;  and  George  S. 
Gaines,  for  a  long  time  facjor  for  the  Choctaw  Indians,  was 
chosen  secretary.-  In  January,  1820,  Pickens  wrote  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  that  the  Mobile  Bank  had  but  a 
nominal  existence.  He  stated  that  that  institution,  which  had 
been  chartered  in  1818,  had  had  $70,000  subscribed  to  its  cap- 
ital, and  that  one-eighth  of  this,  or  about  $8,000  had  been 
paid  in  specie.  An  agent  was  sent  North  with  a  part  of  this 
sum  to  secure  the  materials  for  putting  the  bank  in  opera- 
tion, but  while  he  was  gone,  the  bank's  balance  was  lost  by 
robbery.  Now  the  agents  of  the  Mobile  institution  were  sup- 
posed to  be  drawing  upon  the  Tombeckbee  Bank  for  specie 
with  which  to  put  their  corporation  on  its  feet.^ 

Meantime,  the  Huntsville  bank,  being  an  older  institution, 
was  doing  business  in  a  larger  way.  In  August,  1819,  it  had 
a  capital  of  $164,000  and  had  discounted  to  the  extent  of 
$408,000.^  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  wrote  to  Leroy 
Pope,  president  of  this  bank,"'  as  well  as  to  the  president  of 
the  Tombeckbee  Bank,^  and  expostulated  on  the  reckless  way 
in  which  their  affairs  were  being  conducted ;  but  no  practical 
reform  was  effected.  Demand  for  accommodation  was  great, 
capital  was  limited,  and  the  temptation  to  profit  was  too 
strong  to  be  withstood. 

The  first  evident  result  of  this  situation  was  the  suspen- 
sion of  specie  payments  by  the  Huntsville  bank  in  1820.  It 
has  already  been  explained  how  the  suspension  of  payments 
by  the  Tennessee  banks  in  1819  was  followed  by  a  drain  of 
specie  from  the  Huntsville  bank,  which  was  too  heavy  for  an 
institution  whose  circulation  far  exceeded  its  specie  reserve." 

1  Toulmin,  Alabama  Code  of  1823. 

2  American  State  Papers,  Finance,  III,  767-768. 

3  American  State  Papers,  Finance,  TV,  740. 

4  Ibid.,  Ill,  778-782. 

•'•  Ibid.,  Finannce,  III,  764. 

«  Ibid.,  Finance,  III,  768. 

-  Ibid.,  Finance,  III,  765-766. 


THE  BANK  QUESTION  95 

It  was  believed,  however,  that  the  bank  was  sound,  and  its 
notes  continued  to  circulate  on  a  par  with  those  of  the  Ten- 
nessee banks,  and  the  two  together  made  up  the  currency  of 
northern  Alabama. 

On  account  of  the  lack  of  commercial  relations  between  the 
two  sections  of  the  State,  this  financial  trouble  did  not  com- 
municate itself  to  the  south,  where  the  two  local  banks  con- 
tinued to  pay  specie  and  where  the  bulk  of  the  circulation  con- 
sisted of  notes  of  the  solvent  banks  of  Georgia.  The  equilib- 
rium of  Alabama  would  hardly  have  been  disturbed  had  not 
the  situation  developed  a  political  as  well  as  a  commercial 
phase.  As  long  as  the  Huntsville  bank  paid  specie  on  its 
notes,  they  were,  of  course  received  by  the  State  in  payment 
of  taxes.  But  when  the  bank  suspended  pajnnents,  the  legis- 
lature refused  to  debar  its  notes  from  acceptance.''  The  re- 
sult of  this  was  that  all  who  could  procure  the  depreciated 
notes  turned  them  in  to  the  Treasury  instead  of  sound  funds, 
and  the  entire  community  suffered  by  the  situation.  In  ad- 
dition to  this,  the  legislature,  during  the  same  session,  emit- 
ted an  issue  of  treasury  notes  which  were  made  payable  rn 
Huntsville  currency.  The  natural  result  was  that  they  at  once 
fell  to  a  par  with  the  Huntsville  notes,  and  the  State  lost  the 
difference. 

Though  the  legislature  could  hardly  have  misunderstood  the 
inevitable  result  of  the  course  which  it  took  in  this  matter, 
the  Governor  defended  its  action  by  arguing  that  the  people 
of  northern  Alabama  could  not  secure  other  funds  than  the 
notes  of  the  Huntsville  bank,  and  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  re- 
fuse to  let  them  pay  their  taxes  with  this  money."  This  gover- 
nor was  rot  the  William  Wyatt  Bibb  who  had  presided  over  the 
Territory  of  Alabama  and  had  been  elected  to  the  chief  of- 
fice under  the  new  State  government.  He  had  died  in  1820 
from  the  effects  of  a  fall  from  his  horse,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother,  Thomas  Bibb,  president  of  the  State  Senate.^" 
It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that  Thomas  Bibb 
was  a  director  of  the  Huntsville  bank  in  1823." 

This  confusion  in  financial  affairs  brought  out  more  strong- 
ly than  ever  the  desire  for  a  State  bank.  The  three  private 
banks  in  operation  had  been  chartered  under  territorial  gov- 

«  Cahawba  Press,  Oct.  15,  1821. 
«  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1821,  8-9. 
10  Pickett,  History  of  Alabama,  666-668. 
n  Huntsville  Democrat,  Dec.  16,  1823. 


96  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

ernment  and  there  was  no  intention  of  chartering  any  new 
ones  under  the  State.  The  constitution  provided  for  a  bank 
of  the  Commonwealth,  and  efforts  were  soon  on  foot  to  found 
such  an  institution. 

The  first  step  in  this  direction  was  taken  by  the  legislature 
in  1820.  Provision  was  made  for  a  State  bank  with  a  capital 
of  two  million  dollars.  Half  of  the  stock  was  to  be  reserved 
to  the  State  and  the  government  was  to  choose  the  president 
and  six  of  the  twelve  directors,  thus  controlling  the  institu- 
tion.*- Books  were  opened  for  public  subscription,  but  no 
capital  was  found  for  investment  in  such  a  bank,  and  the 
scheme  fell  through.*'' 

But  the  idea  was  not  abandoned.  In  1821  Israel  Pickens 
succeeded  Thomas  Bibb  as  Governor.  Pickens  came  to  Ala- 
bama from  North  Carolina  in  1817,  having  served  his  native 
State  in  Congress  since  1811.  It  has  been  mentioned  that  he 
took  up  his  residence  at  St.  Stephens  and  became  president  of 
the  Tombeckbee  Bank.  Before  Bibb  retired  from  office,  com- 
missioners had  been  appointed  by  the  legislature  to  negotiate 
with  the  private  banks  and  to  discover  on  what  terms  they 
would  be  willing  to  become  branches  of  a  State  bank.*^  The 
constitution  had  provided  that  such  an  arrangement  might  be 
made,  and,  since  other  capital  did  not  seem  to  be  obtainable, 
the  idea  of  founding  a  State  institution  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  those  already  existing  appealed  to  many.  A  bill 
for  carrying  this  plan  into  effect  was  passed  by  the  legislature, 
but  was  vetoed  by  Governor  Pickens  at  the  inception  of  his 
term  of  office. *°  If  allowed  to  become  law,  this  measure  would 
have  committed  the  credit  of  the  State  into  the  hands  of  a 
few  bankers  without  any  careful  scrutiny  of  their,  affairs. 
Considering  the  way  in  which  the  private  banks  of  Alabama 
had  been  conducted,  such  a  move  would  have  been  dangerous, 
to  say  the  least.  There  were  many  who  praised  Pickens  for 
stepping  in  to  prevent  it  and  there  were  many  who  blamed 
him  for  his  action. 

The  political  division  in  Alabama  had  previously  been  due 
to  the  rivalry  between  the  north  and  the  south  of  the  State, 
or  to  the  antagonism  which  grew  up  against  those  Georgia 
men  who,  through  the  friendship  of  William  H.  Crawford,  en- 

15!  Toulmin,  Alabama  Code  of  1823. 

13  Alabama  Repiihlicav,  June  29,  1821. 

14  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1821,  8-9. 
i:i  Alabama,  House  Journal,  1821.  227. 


THE  BANK  QUESTION  9? 

joyed  a  practical  monopoly  of  the  Federal  patronage.  Now  the 
bank  question  was  injected  into  the  midst  of  the  situation. 

Though  Pickens  was  not  a  Georgia  man,  his  being  made 
register  of  the  land  office  at  St.  Stephens  would  indicate  that 
he  was  not  at  odds  with  them.  It  is  significant  that  in  1819 
he  wrote  a  letter  endorsing  Dr.  Henry  Chambers,  who  was 
running  against  Col.  John  Crowell  for  the  seat  in  the  Lower 
House  of  Congress. i«  Dr.  Chambers  was  from  the  Tennes- 
see Valley  and  represented  the  Georgia  faction,  while  Crow- 
ell was  from  the  southern  part  of  the  State  and  not  a  Georgia 
man.  In  1821  it  was  Chambers  who  opposed  Pickens  for  the 
governorship,  but  he  was  a  weak  candidate  and  carried  only 
a  few  of  the  counties  in  his  own  section. i''^ 

No  political  issues  seem  to  have  been  brought  forward  in 
this  campaign.  The  question  of  the  currency  and  the  State 
bank  was  before  the  people  and  had  been  discussed  at  random, 
but  no  definite  line  of  action  had  been  proposed.  Pickens' 
attitude  on  the  subject  does  not  appear  to  have  been  canvassed, 
but  he  no  sooner  took  his  stand  than  a  general  agitation  be- 
gan. 

The  Huntsville  bank  had  profited,  or  was  thought  to  have 
profited,  at  the  expense  of  the  people  of  the  State,  and  the 
capital  of  this  institution  was  largely  in  the  hands  of  men 
from  Georgia.  The  feeling  against  the  bank  was  added  to  the 
feeling  against  the  Crawford  faction,  and  those  who  shared 
these  sentiments  rose  up  to  proclaim  Pickens  the  man  who  had 
saved  his  State  from  the  hands  of  the  spoilers. ^^ 

The  veto  of  the  charter  was  followed  by  an  attack  on  the 
Huntsville  bank.  Its  notes  were  debarred  from  acceptance 
in  payment  of  debts  to  the  State, i*^  and  this,  together  with  the 
failure  of  the  prospect  that  the  institution  would  become  a 
branch  of  the  State  bank,  led  to  a  rapid  decline  in  their  value. 
In  all  this,  the  newspapers  of  the  State,  which  were  edited 
largely  by  Adams  men,  supported  the  act  of  the  Governor,  the 
Alabama  Republican,  of  Huntsville,  being  a  notable  exception. 

But  when  it  came  to  the  constructive  side  of  Pickens'  pro- 
gram, there  was  a  greater  difference  of  opinion.  Private 
capital  had  failed  to  come  to  the  support  of  the  State  man- 
aged bank  in  1820,  and  the  existing  banks  were  not  to  be  trust- 

ic  Cahawba  Press,  July  30,  1821. 
1"  Alabama  House  Journal,  1822,  25. 

18  Cahawba  Press,  Feb.  4,  1822,  April  27,  1822,  May  "25,  1822;  St.  Ste- 
phens Halcyon,  Feb.  9,  1822. 

Jf»  Huntsville  Democrat,  July  20,  1824. 


V8  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

ed  with  the  destinies  of  a  public  institution.  There  was  but  one 
other  possible  chance,  and  the  Governor  set  his  face  in  that  di- 
rection: the  State  was  to  furnish  its  own  capital  and  direct 
its  own  bank  for  the  benefit  of  the  people.  For  procuring  the 
necessary  funds,  the  State  had  but  one  recourse:  the  lands 
which  had  been  granted  to  it  by  the  National  Government.  It 
was  proposed  that  the  proceeds  from  the  sale  of  these  lands  be 
invested  in  the  bank  and  that  six  per  cent,  interest  be  paid  on 
the  funds  and  devoted  to  the  purpose  for  which  the  original 
grants  had  been  made.  The  management  of  the  institution 
was  to  be  in  the  hands  of  a  president  and  board  of  directors 
chosen  by  the  legislature. 20 

The  bearing  of  such  a  proposition  in  a  State  where  the  ma- 
jority of  the  people  were  hard-pressed  for  money  can  easily 
be  understood.  Those  who  had  some  capital  and  a  fairly  in- 
telligent interest  in  economic  affairs  would  oppose  it.  Those 
who  had  no  capital,  wanted  cheap  money,  and  knew  little  of 
business  methods,  would  favor  it  with  all  the  ardor  of  frontier 
democracy.  In  other  words,  here  was  the  material  for  a  po- 
litical cleavage  along  economical  lines,  but  the  Governor  who 
gave  the  popular  party  its  rallying-ground  was  not  a  Jackson 
man. 

Discussion  of  the  question  went  on  with  unabated  earnest- 
ness, but  without  practical  results,  during  the  whole  of  Pick- 
ens' first  term  in  office.  The  Alabama  Republican,  of  Hunts- 
ville,  showed  an  unmistakable  leaning  toward  the  private 
banks,  while  the  Mobile  papers  contended  for  a  commercial 
rather  than  a  democratic  institution.  It  was  argued  with 
reason  that  unless  the  bank  was  located  at  the  center  of  trade, 
its  notes  would  not  circulate  at  par  at  any  distance  from  the 
place  where  they  were  issued  and  could  be  redeemed.21  It  was 
also  questioned  whether  a  bank  would  be  efficiently  adminis- 
tered under  the  auspices  of  the  legislature.  But  the  striking 
feature  in  'the  discussion  was  the  appearance  of  a  new  paper 
in  Huntsville  called  the  Democrat,  and  edited  by  a  man  from 
Kentucky.  In  the  fall  of  1823  this  publication  suddenly  came 
forward  and  announced  itself  the  champion  of  "the  peo- 
p]g  "22  'YYiQ  people  had  been  without  a  leader,  it  said,  and  had 
suffered  many  things  at  the  hands  of  the  aristocrats.     The 

20  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1821,  27-34;  House  Journal,  1822,  9  et  seq. 
2"^  Alabama  Republican,  Aug.  24,  1821;  Mobile  Argus,  Nov.  €,  1823; 
Mobile  Advertiser,  Dec.  15,  1823. 

22  Alabama  Republican,  Oct.  17,  1823. 


THE  BANK  QUESTION  99 

president  of  the  Huntsville  bank  was  accused  of  several  kinds 
of  rascality,  and  the  administration  of  the  corporation  was 
condemned  as  a  robbery  of  the  poor.  It  was  alleged  that  cot- 
ton had  been  shipped  to  New  York,  sold  there  for  sound  mon- 
ey and  the  proceeds  brought  back  to  Huntsville  and  exchanged 
by  the  bank  for  its  own  notes,  which  it  took  at  a  discount.^^ 
This  process  was  known  as  "shaving,"  and  the  term  "shavers" 
was  applied  in  opprobrium  to  those  connected  with  the  bank. 
Color  is  lent  to  charges  of  this  kind  by  the  fact  that 
Pope,  the  president  of  the  bank,  who  was  also  pension  agent, 
paid  pensioners  in  the  depreciated  notes  of  his  institution,  and 
was  for  this  dismissed  from  his  office  by  the  Treasury  De- 
partment.24 

Pickens  was  again  candidate  for  the  governorship  in  1823. 
The  bank  question  was  made  a  leading  issue  of  the  campaign,^^ 
and  his  second  election  was  followed  shortly  by  the  incorpor- 
ation of  the  Bank  of  the  State  of  Alabama.  The  capital  was 
to  be  derived  from  the  sale  of  lands  donated  to  the  State  for 
the  founding  of  a  university,  from  the  1640  acres  donated  for 
a  seat  of  government,  from  the  three  per  cent,  which  was  giv- 
en out  of  the  sales  of  Federal  lands  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
structing roads  within  the  State,  and  from  several  minor 
sources.  The  amount  of  university  money  which  could  be  in- 
vested in  this  manner  was  limited  to  $100,000,  and  $100,000 
additional  was  to  be  borrowed  on  the  credit  of  the  State.  It 
was  provided  that  six  per  cent,  was  to  be  paid  on  all  funds, 
and  the  interest  on  the  university  fund,  the  "three  per  cent." 
fund,  and  other  special  funds,  was  to  be  devoted  to  the  object 
for  which  the  original  donations  had  been  made.  The  bank 
was  to  be  founded  at  the  seat  of  government,  the  president 
and  directors  were  to  be  chosen  by  the  legislature,  and  all  dis- 
counts were  to  be  apportioned  among  the  several  counties  in 
proportion  to  their  representation  in  the  legislature.2«  In 
the  Senate,  the  vote  on  this  measure  was  thirteen  to  six,  those 
who  were  in  the  negative  coming  from  the  more  commercial 
communities.27 

23  Huntsville  Democrat,  Oct.  14,  1823;  Alabama  Rejiublican,  Dec.  12, 
1823. 

24  Huntsville  Democrat,  March  30,  1824;  Franklin  Enquirer,  Apr.  7, 
1824. 

25  Alabama  Republican,  June  13,  1823;  Mobile  Argus,  July  22,  1823. 
2C  Act.  of  Dec.  20,  1823. 

27  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1823,  65. 


100  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

In  July,  1824,  the  bank  was  organized  with  a  capital  slightly 
in  excess  of  $200,000,  half  of  which  was  derived  from  the  re- 
sources of  the  State,  and  the  other  half  of  which  was  borrow- 
ed.^^^  Its  discounts  soon  exceeded  its  capital,  and  its  notes  be- 
gan to  constitute  an  appreciable  part  of  the  local  circulation. 

This  addition  to  the  amount  of  available  money  came  at  an 
opportune  time,  for  several  of  the  older  issues  of  notes  were 
shortly  withdrawn  from  general  use.  The  war  against  the 
Huntsville  bank  was  carried  on  until  1825,  when,  on  account 
of  its  failure  to  redeem  a  pledge  to  resume  specie  payments, 
its  charter  was  annulled, 2»  and  though  all  its  notes  were  not 
withdrawn,  they  ceased  to  form  any  appreciable  part  of  the 
circulating  medium  of  the  Tennessee  Valley. 

The  Tennessee  notes,  which  made  up  the  greater  part  of  the 
currency  of  this  section,  circulated  in  abundance  as 
long  as  they  were  not  redeemable,  for  Eastern  merchants  who 
collected  debts  in  Tennessee  funds  found  it  profitable  to  pur- 
chase cotton  with  them  rather  than  to  take  them  into  a  part 
of  the  country  where  they  were  at  a  great  discount.^"  But  in 
1826,  the  Tennessee  banks  resumed  specie  payments  and  their 
notes  ceased  to  circulate  extensively  in  Alabama.^^  Thus  the 
Huntsville  region  was  left  almost  destitute  of  a  currency,  and 
"change  tickets"  appeared  in  great  numbers  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  their  issuance  was  illegal. 3^  A  planter  who  sold  his 
cotton  in  New  Orleans  and  received  a  draft  on  New  York  in 
payment  could  realize  cash  on  his  paper  by  exchanging  it  in 
Nashville  for  "post  notes"  issued  by  the  firm  of  Yeatman  and 
Woods.  These  notes  were  made  payable  in  Philadelphia  sev- 
eral months  after  date,  which  arrangement  put  them  at  a  dis- 
count and  kept  them  in  circulation,  so  that  they  came  to  make 
up  a  large  part  of  the  currency  in  northern  Alabama. ^"^ 

In  the  meantime,  the  southern  part  of  the  State  was  having 
its  troubles.  In  1826  the  United  States  Bank  established  a 
branch  at  Mobile  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  those  who  believed 
that  it  would  be  a  menace  to  the  Bank  of  Alabama.^^     The 

28  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1824,  7, 

23  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1825;  10;  Alabama  Republican,  Feb.  18, 
1825. 

30  Huntsville  Democrat,  April  27,  1824. 

31  Snuthern  Advocate,  Sept.  8,  1826,  Sept.  15,  1826. 

32  Huntsville  Democrat,  March  9,  1827. 

33  Southern  Advocate,  Jan.  5,  1827. 

34  Mobile  Register,  Nov.  18,  1826;  Alabama  Journal,  May  6,  1826;  Ala- 
bama, Senate  Journal,  1826,  9. 


THE  BANK  QUESTION  101 

branch  bank  refused  to  receive  the  notes  of  the  local  banks, 
but  made  an  exception  in  the  case  of  the  Mobile  bank  provid- 
ed that  it  would  redeem  its  obligations  at  frequent  intervals. 
In  turn,  the  Mobile  bank,  in  order  to  protect  itself,  refused  to 
receive  the  notes  of  the  St.  Stephens  bank  and  of  the  State 
bank  unless  they  would  redeem  them  at  frequent  intervals  in 
Mobile.  This  was  necessary  because  there  was  a  flow  of  cur- 
rency from  the  interior  toward  Mobile,  but  no  counter-flow 
to  balance  the  situation.  The  State  bank  made  terms,  but  the 
St.  Stephens  bank  refused  to  do  so  and  seems  to  have  damaged 
its  credit  by  the  stand  which  it  took.  At  any  rate,  it  closed 
its  doors  in  1827  and  its  notes  ceased  to  pass  as  currency.^^ 

By  1828  the  capital  of  the  State  bank  had  increased  to 
$409,000,  and  arrangements  were  made  for  borrowing  an- 
other $100,000.3^  In  addition  to  this,  permission  had  been 
obtained  from  Congress  for  selling  the  sixteenth  section  in 
each  township  which  had  been  donated  for  the  establishment 
of  public  schools,  and  provision  was  made  by  the  legislature 
for  investing  the  proceeds  in  the  bank.^^  The  discounts  of 
the  institution  were  now  more  than  $600,000 ;  its  notes  in  cir- 
culation amounted  to  $395,000;  and  its  cash  funds  to  $294,- 
000.38     Here  was  an  establishment  of  portentous  possibilities. 

35  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1827,  184-185;  Huntsville  Democrat,  April 
13,  1827;  Mobile  Register,  June  25,  1828. 

36  Act.  of  Jan.  12,  1828. 

3'  American  State  Papers,  Lands,  VI,  891;  Southern  Advocate,  Feb.  1, 
1828 
38  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1828,  18. 


Chapter  XI 


POLITICS  AND  THE  ELECTION  OF  1824 

Something  has  been  said  of  the  influence  of  Georgia  on  the 
early  politics  of  Alabama.  It  remains  to  trace  the  conse- 
quences of  the  situation.  The  fraudulent  Yazoo  land  specu- 
lation had  split  the  former  state  into  two  factions ;  those  who 
attacked  and  annulled  the  sales  were  led  by  General  James 
Jackson,  while  the  defenders  adhered  to  General  Elijah  Clarke. 
In  time  the  leadership  of  the  Jackson  party  passed  into  the 
hands  of  William  H.  Crawford,  while  the  opposition  was  main- 
tained by  John  Clarke,  son  of  the  General. ^ 

Between  these  factions  there  were  no  standing  political  dif- 
ferences, but  the  rivalry  between  the  leaders  on  each  side  was 
backed  by  certain  economic  and  sectional  differences  be- 
tween their  respective  followings.  There  had  been  two  cen- 
ters of  settlement  in  Georgia :  one  along  the  tide-water  region 
where  sea-island  cotton  formed  the  basis  for  a  planting 
aristocracy;  and  the  other  in  the  piedmont  region  where  the 
Savannah  River  cut  through  the  red  hills  and  afforded  trans- 
portation facilities  for  planters  of  upland  cotton.  The  older 
settlements  were  those  of  the  tide-water  region,  but  after  the 
Revolution,  while  upland  cotton  was  coming  into  its  own,  num- 
erous emigrants  had  come  from  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 
and  established  themselves  in  the  piedmont  section.  Elbert 
County  came  to  be  a  center  of  Virginia  influence,  while  Wilkes 
County,  just  to  the  northward,  came  to  be  a  center  of  North 
Carolina  influence.  A  marked  rivalry  grew  up  between  the 
two  groups  of  settlers,  both  of  which  tended  toward  exclusive- 
ness. 

James  Jackson,  and  later,  Troup,  stood  for  the  tide-water 
aristocracy,  while  Clarke  represented  the  plain  men  of  the 
frontier  sections  of  the  State.  Crawford  was  a  Virginian  of 
the  piedmont  section,  and  his  co-operation  with  Jackson 
brought  about  an  alliance  of  the  two  groups  which  they  repre- 
sented. The  North  Carolinians  were  thus  thrown  into  the 
arms  of  the  Clarke  party. 

1  On  the  subject  of  the  Georgia  parties,  see  U.  B.  Phillips,  Georgia  and 
State  Rights,  Chap.  IV. 


POLITICS  AND  THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  103 

The  majority  of  the  leading  men  of  the  State  were  of  the 
Crawford  faction  and  for  a  long  time  they  succeeded  in  main- 
taining political  control.  When  the  new  lands  in  Alabama 
were  opened  up,  however,  the  exodus  of  cotton  planters  was  a 
severe  blow  to  the  party.  A  substantial  number  of  wealthy 
Georgians,  including  Leroy  Pope  and  his  son-in-law,  John  W. 
Walker,  had  gone  from  Elbert  County  and  established  Hunts- 
ville  in  1809  and  1810.  But  it  was  in  1817  and  1818  that  a  great 
body  of  them  bought  land  at  the  Government  sales  at  Milledge- 
ville  and  moved  out  into  the  basin  of  the  Alabama  River  to  be- 
come the  back-bone  of  the  planter  class  in  that  section. 

It  was  during  this  time  that  Georgia's  two  Senators,  Charles 
Tait  and  William  W.  Bibb,  voted  for  a  bill  to  increase  the  sal- 
aries of  the  members  of  their  body,  and  thereby  brought  down 
a  storm  upon  their  heads  which  resulted  in  their  withdrawal 
from  Congress,  and  which  was  instrumental  in  causing  them  to 
remove  to  Alabama.  Bibb  at  once  became  Governor  of  the  new 
Territory;  but  Tait  remained  in  the  Senate  until  the  end  of 
his  term,  and  then,  statehood  having  been  obtained  for  Ala- 
bama, reaped  his  reward  for  senatorial  service  by  being  made 
a  district  judge  of  the  new  commonwealth.  These  men  were 
accompanied  to  Alabama  by  other  strong  supporters  of  Craw- 
ford, among  whom  was  Boiling  Hall,  who  had  sat  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  for  his  native  state,  and  who  now  took  up 
his  residence  in  Autauga  County  across  the  river  from  Mont- 
gomery. 

Governor  Bibb  was  popular  in  Alabama,  and  Walker  seems 
to  have  won  his  way  to  the  Senate  through  sheer  worth.  Tait 
also  had  senatorial  aspirations,  but  yielded  to  William  R.  King 
when  jealousy  of  the  Georgia  group  made  it  clear  that  it  was 
dangerous  to  push  too  far.  William  H.  Crawford  was  not  so 
cautious,  however,  in  dispensing  the  Federal  patronage  for  the 
State.  He  controlled  practically  all  appointments  and  his 
friends  were  invariably  put  into  office  except  when  it  became 
expedient  to  shelve  an  opponent.  Bait  was  held  out  to  King 
in  the  hope  of  diverting  him  from  his  race  for  the  Senate,  but 
he  refused  to  be  diverted.^  William  Crawford,  who  succeed- 
ed Pickens  as  president  of  the  Tombeckbee  Bank,  was  district 
attorney  and,  at  the  same  time,  receiver  for  the  St.  Stephens 
land  office.     If  the  receiver  had  been  irregular  in    his    ac- 

2  Tait  Papers,  Wm.  H,  Crawford  to  C.  Tait,  Nov.  7,  1819. 


104  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

counts,  the  attorney  would  hardly  have  been  eager  to  prose- 
cute the  case  i^ 

Such  a  condition  as  this  necessarily  aroused  the  anger  of 
those  who  did  not  have  a  finger  in  the  pie,  and  complaints  of 
partisanship  and  inefficiency  went  up  on  all  sides.  It  was  not 
a  struggle  which  would  greatly  concern  the  mass  of  the  people, 
who  were  absorbed  in  other  things,  but  it  concerned  the  poli- 
ticians and  they,  in  turn,  had  some  power  to  arouse  the  people. 

This  power  seems  to  have  been  more  limited  than  would  be 
imagined.  There  were  no  parties,  nor  even  any  standing  is- 
sues. The  people,  busy  with  their  clearings  and  their  crops, 
appear  to  have  elected  their  more  ambitious  neighbors  to  go  up 
to  the  legislature  and  relieve  them  of  anxiety  about  all  politi- 
cal questions  excepting  only  such  as  concerned  immediate 
economic  interests.  No  serious  attempt  was  made  to  arouse 
them  until  Pickens  seized  upon  the  bank  question  and  made  an 
issue  of  it. 

The  relation  existing  between  the  champion  of  the  -State 
Bank  and  the  Crawford  men  is  not  easy  to  trace.  It  is  stated 
that  Pickens,  then  a  Congressman  from  North  Carolina,  sup- 
ported Crawford  when  he  stood  for  the  Presidency  against 
Monroe  in  1816.  But  when  Crawford  refused  him  the  ap- 
pointment as  register  of  the  land  office  at  Cahawba,  which 
place  had  been  promised  him  by  Dallas,  Pickens  turned 
against  the  Georgia  men  and  threatened  to  become  the  head 
of  an  opposition.*  It  was  probably  Tait  who  secured  for  him 
the  appointment  as  register  of  the  land  office  at  St.  Stephens, ^ 
and  this  seems  to  have  prevented  hostilities  until  the  guber- 
natorial campaign  of  1821,  when  Pickens  denied  all  connection 
with  the  Crawford  party."^ 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  Crawford  stood  for  the  aristo- 
cratic group  in  Georgia  and  that  the  majority  of  his  followers 
who  came  to  Alabama  were  planters  of  some  means.  The 
connection  of  a  few  of  them  with  the  unfortunate  Huntsville 
bank  made  it  possible  for  their  enemies  to  call  them  "oppres- 
sors of  the  poor,"  and  the  fight  for  the  State  Bank  was  made 
a  fight  against  the  Georgia  faction.     The  challenge  was  ac- 

3  Mobile  Argus,  March  3,  1823,  letter  copied  from  the  Franklin  Get- 
zctic 

4  Hall  Papers,  Jack  F.  Ross  to  Boiling  Hall,  Aug.  25,  1821;  Tait  Pa- 
pers, William  H.  Crawford  to  C.  Tait,  Nov.  27,  1819. 

5  Tait  Papers,  Wm.  H.  Crawford  to  C.  Tait,  Nov.  29,  1819. 

6  Bibb  Papers,  C.  Tait  to  W.  W.  Bibb,  Nov.  28,  1820. 


POLITICS  AND  THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  105 

cepted,  and  the  Crawford  men  led  the  defense  of  the  private 
banks,  while  their  opponents  combined  against  them  to  es- 
tablish the  "people's  bank."" 

It  is  an  interesting  alignment  of  factions  that  was  brought 
about  by  this  situation.  Farmers  on  a  small  scale  had  come 
into  Alabama  primarily  from  Tennessee,  Georgia,  and  South 
Carolina ;  but  whatever  their  origin,  they  were  preponderant- 
ly Jackson  men.  Among  the  planters  there  was  no  such  unan- 
imity. Those  from  Georgia  were  most  numerous  along  the 
upper  Alabama  River,  and  they  were  the  principal  supporters 
of  Crawford.  Those  from  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia  pre- 
dominated in  the  Tombigbee  basin  as  far  up  as  Tuscaloosa, 
and  Adams  was  strongest  in  this  section.  In  the  Tennessee 
Valley,  the  Georgia  planters  mingled  with  the  planters  from 
Virginia  and  the  Carolinas  and  produced  a  variety  of  political 
sentiments,  the  Georgia  influence  being  strong  in  Madison 
County  but  dwindling  away  toward  the  west.  On  the  bank 
question,  the  Adams  planters  were  allied  with  the  Jackson 
farmers  to  defeat  the  Crawford  men.^ 

The  election  of  Pickens  was  the  beginning  of  hard  times  for 
the  Georgia  faction.  They  had  at  first  made  Alabama  their 
own,  and  the  new  State  was  glad  to  have  their  powerful  in- 
fluence in  Washington.  Their  monopoly  of  the  Federal  pat- 
ronage raised  up  enemies  among  the  politicians  from  other 
states.  In  the  untimely  death  of  Governor  Bibb,  they  lost  a 
strong  leader.  This  misfortune  was  followed  in  1823  by  the 
death  of  Senator  John  W.  Walker.  These  two  men  had  won 
much  respect  in  the  community,  and  there  were  no  others  of 
equal  caliber  to  take  their  places.  In  the  contest  to  fill  the  va- 
cant seat  in  the  Senate,  the  Crawford  men  supported  John 
McKinley,  while  their  opponents,  the  "friends  of  the  people," 
backed  William  Kelly.  The  latter  won  the  contest  by  a  narrow 
majority,  and  when  the  unexpired  term  was  completed,  he 
stood  for  re-election,  being  opposed  this  time  by  Dr.  Henry 
Chambers.  Chambers  won  the  race  and  thereby  restored  the 
balance,  for  William  R.  King,  who,  like  Pickens,  was  from 
North  Carolina  and  no  friend  of  the  Georgia  faction,  retained 

"^Alabama  Republican,  March  25,  1824;  Huntsville  Democrat,  Nov.  11, 
1823,  July  20,  1824. 

8  The  origin  of  the  population  in  different  sections  of  the  State  has 
been  discussed  in  Chapter  III.  The  statement  of  the  political  tendencies 
of  the  various  sections  is  based  upon  the  attitude  of  the  press  and  the 
presidential  vote  of  1824. 


106  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

his  seat  continuously  in  the  Senate  for  twenty-five  years  after 
Alabama  became  a  State." 

But  the  Crawford  men,  while  able  to  maintain  a  condition 
of  political  balance  in  the  legislature,  were  not  nearly  so 
strong  when  elections  went  straight  to  the  people.  None  of 
the  early  Congressmen  were  of  their  number,  nor  were  they 
able  to  elect  a  governor  after  1819.  It  is  indeed  surprising 
to  consider  how  small  was  the  group  of  men  who  all  but  dom- 
inated the  legislature  of  the  State.  The  planters  were  but 
few  compared  to  the  total  number  of  settlers,  nor  did  the 
Georgians  constitute  a  majority  of  the  planters,  yet  they  made 
up  the  predominant  class  in  an  important  section  of  the  State 
and  found  their  way  into  politics  in  relatively  large  numbers. 
This  was  possible  because  of  their  prominence  as  office-hold- 
ers; because  there  were  no  organized  parties;  and  because 
there  was  no  standing  antagonism  between  the  planter  and  the 
farmer.  There  were  politicians  who  wanted  to  teach  the  peo- 
ple to  know  their  rights,  and  in  the  matter  of  the  Bank,  they 
succeeded  in  their  aim.  But  ordinarily  the  people  did  not  feel 
a  great  need  of  instruction.  In  the  absence  of  parties,  poli- 
tics were  largely  personal.  Only  men  of  some  station  thought 
of  running  for  office,  and  the  lesser  sort  selected  their  favor- 
ite and  voted  for  him  without  asking  many  questions  as  to  his 
creed.  While  a  study  of  the  popular  elections  shows  very 
clearly  that  the  people  knew  what  they  wanted  when  a  matter 
of  political  interest  was  put  squarely  before  them,  a  compari- 
son of  the  votes  of  the  legislature  indicates  that  popular  con- 
trol was,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  very  slight. 

Until  the  campaign  of  1824  approached,  local  matters  tend- 
ed to  push  national  issues  into  the  background,  and  the  reason 
was  that  there  was  a  nearly  unanimous  agreement  upon  all 
Federal  questions  excepting  as  to  who  should  be  President  af- 
ter Monroe.  Clay  had  a  few  strong  friends  in  Alabama,  but 
his  advocacy  of  the  tariff  rendered  him  unpopular ;  and  Craw- 
ford had  no  followers  excepting  the  Georgia  planters.  The 
plain  people  were  devotedly  attached  to  Andrew  Jackson, 
while  Adams  had  strong  support  among  the  Carolina  and  Vir- 
ginia planters.  New  Englanders  were  generally  disliked  in 
this  section  of  the  country  and  the  popularity  of  Adams  indi- 

»CrIiaivb:  Press,  Dec.  14.  1S22  :Himtsville  Democrat,  July  20,  1824, 
Dec.  14,  1824.  Dec,  21,  1824:  Alabavia  Repv.blican  Dec.  17,  1824;  Tait 
P-'^-rs,  Wm.  H.  Crawford  to  C.  Tait,  Feb. -16,  1823;  Hall  Papers,  Aug.  21, 
1823. 


POLITICS  AND  THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  107 

cates  that  the  conservative  element  entertained  a  strong  prej- 
udice against  the  aggressive  democracy  of  the  Jackson  men. 
The  support  which  Adams  gave  to  the  cause  of  internal  im- 
provements was  an  asset  in  a  state  where  improvements  were 
badly  needed,  and  his  friends  claimed  that  he  was  safer  on  the 
question  of  the  tariff  than  any  of  the  other  candidates. i<> 

The  tariff  question  was  the  disturbing  one.  Alabama  was 
a  unit  in  condemning  the  system  of  protection,  and  the  sup- 
porters of  Jackson  found  their  greatest  difficulty  here.  The 
hero  of  New  Orleans  voted  for  the  increased  duties  that  were 
established  in  1824,  and  this  fact  was  used  against  him  by  his 
enemies,  nor  could  they  have  found  a  better  weapon.  It  be- 
came necessary  for  the  Jackson  men  to  bestir  themselves  in 
the  matter.  A  direct  question  on  the  subject  was  propounded 
to  the  General  and  his  answer  was  published  in  the  Mobile 
Advertiser.  Here  he  stated  clearly  that  he  favored  protection 
for  those  industries  which  were  of  military  importance,  such 
as  the  manufacture  of  iron  and  cheap  woolen  goods,  but  that 
he  was  otherwise  for  a  revenue  tariff  only.^^  No  clear  case 
could  be  made  for  Adams,  however,  and  the  cause  of  Jackson 
was  not  seriously  hurt  by  the  issue. 

A  strong  section  of  the  local  press  favored  Adams,  and  it 
was  conceded  that  he  would  carry  the  southern  part  of  the 
State,  while  Jackson  was  expected  to  carry  the  northern.12  An 
attempt  was  made  to  have  the  presidential  electors  chosen  by 
district  with  the  hope  that  two  of  the  five  could  be  carried  for 
the  New  England  candidate,i3  but  the  plan  was  defeated  and 
in  1823  the  legislature  declared  Jackson  to  be  the  choice  of  the 
State. ^^  So  great  was  the  popularity  of  the  General  that  even 
his  enemies  had  to  speak  respectfully  of  him.  Those  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature  who  voted  against  the  nomination  took 
the  trouble  to  explain  that  they  did  so,  not  because  of  hostili- 
ty, but  because  they  did  not  consider  the  question  a  proper  one 

^0  Alabama  Republican,  May  21,  1824,  Oct.  8,  1824;  Cahawba  Press, 
July  10,  1824;  Huntsville  Democrat,  June  24,  1824, 

11  Tuscaloosa  Mirror,  May  29,  1824.  Jackson  did  not  refer  simply  to 
munitions  of  war,  but  meant  to  include  all  articles  necessary  to  put  the 
country  in  a  condition  of  economic  independence,  considering  this  neces- 
sary to  military  safety.  See  letters  to  John  Coffee,  dated  May  7,  and 
June  18,  1824,  in  the  Coffee  correspondence. 

12  Huntsville  Democrat,  Aug.  24,  1824;  Alabama  Republican,  August 
8,  Oct.  1,  1824. 

13  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1823,  12;  Alabama  Republican,  Sept.  26, 
1823. 

i^Atabama,  Senate  Journal,  1823,  82;  House  Journal,  1823,  77. 


108,        THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

for  legislative  action. ^"^  Governor  Pickens  explained  on  the 
same  grounds  his  failure  to  sign  the  nominating  resolution. ^^ 
Indeed,  the  loss  of  popularity  which  one  suffered  by  opposing 
Jackson  brought  many  men  to  a  new  way  of  thinking.  Dr. 
Henry  Chambers  was  backed  by  the  Georgia  group  when  he 
ran  for  the  governorship  in  1821  and  1823/"  but  he  became  a 
supporter  of  Jackson  and  was  made  presidential  elector  on  the 
popular  ticket  in  1824.  Nicholas  Davis,  who  for  five  years 
was  president  of  the  State  Senate,  was  an  opponent  of  the 
State  Bank  and  no  friend  of  Jackson's, i'*  but  he  so  far  gave 
way  as  to  vote  for  the  nomination  by  the  legislature  in  1823. 

There  was  no  regularly  established  political  machinery  in 
1824,  but  co-operation  was  necessary  in  order  to  win  a  spirit- 
ed contest,  and  this  was  accomplished  in  an  informal  but  ef- 
fective way.  Public  meetings  of  the  friends  of  the  several 
candidates  were  announced  in  the  newspapers  and  held  in  the 
leading  towns.  These  gatherings  proposed  electoral  tickets 
and  chose  committees  of  correspondence.  One  of  them,  which 
was  held  at  the  court-house  in  Perry  County  on  May  8,  1824, 
proposed  that  representatives  be  chosen  by  friends  of  Jackson 
in  the  various  parts  of  the  State  and  sent  to  a  convention 
which  should  meet  at  Cahawba  during  the  following  session 
of  the  Supreme  Court. ^^  The  friends  of  Adams  and  Craw- 
ford followed  this  example,  and  accordingly  there  were  three 
conventions  held  in  due  time  at  the  seat  of  government.  These 
were  informally  constituted  bodies,  consisting  partly  of  rep- 
resentatives from  various  public  meetings  and  partly  of  men 
who  came  without  any  public  authorization.  The  Jackson 
delegation  appears  to  have  been  the  most  representative.  It 
considered  the  electoral  ticket  which  had  been  promulgated 
by  the  local  press;  made  some  changes  in  it;  and  appointed  a 
correspondence  committee  for  each  judicial  circuit,  authoriz- 
ing them  to  notify  the  nominated  electors  and  to  replace  any 
who  might  decline  to  serve.^o  The  other  conventions  followed 
much  the  same  lines  of  procedure,  and  placed  before  the  vot- 
ers the  electoral  tickets  which  had  already  been  generally 
agreed  upon  through  the  press.^^ 

IS  Alabama,  House  Journal,  1823,  120-125. 

i»Niles'  Register,  XXV,  323-324,  362. 

17  Greensboro  Halcyon,  Nov.  1,  1823. 

T**  Pickett,  History  of  Alabama,  653-654. 

19  Cahawba  Press,  May  8,  1824. 

2(r€ahiiwba  Press,  June  18,  1824. 

21  Cahawba  Press,  June  28,  1824,  July  7,  1824. 


POLITICS  AND  THE  ELECTION  OF  1824  109 

When  the  returns  from  the  election  came  in,  it  was  found 
that  Jackson  had  a  majority  in  every  county  in  the  State  ex- 
cept three, — Greene,  Butler,  and  Montgomery.22  This 
unexpected  strength  of  the  General  emphasizes  the  very  im- 
portant point  that  it  was  not  the  editor,  nor  the  politician,  nor 
the  planter  who  furnished  the  main  support  of  Jackson,  but 
the  plain  farmer  who  could  vote  more  potently  than  he  could 
talk.  It  became  clear  that  the  small  farmer  had  the  balance 
of  power  even  in  the  counties  where  slaves  were  most  numer- 
ous. He  spoke  his  mind  very  clearly  and  carried  his  point 
when  his  mind  was  made  up,  but  he  did  not  differ  from  the 
planter  on  principle  and  never  tried  for  separate  control. 

Some  interesting  information  is  obtainable  from  a  study  of 
the  election  of  1824.  Over  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  vote 
went  to  Jackson  in  all  the  counties  of  the  Tennessee  Valley  and 
the  hilly  region  lying  below  it.  The  predominance  of  Tennes- 
seeans  in  the  Valley  and  of  small  farmers  in  the  hilly  region 
accounts  for  this  situation.  The  counties  of  the  extreme  south- 
east were  also  overwhelmingly  for  Jackson,  and  these,  like  the 
hill  counties,  had  a  minimum  slave  population.  But  in  the 
basins  of  the  Alabama  and  Tombigbee  Rivers,  the  General  fail- 
ed of  a  majority  in  three  counties  and  carried  but  two  with  a 
vote  as  high  as  seventy-five  per  cent.  Here  the  Tennesseeans 
were  relatively  few  in  numbers  and  the  planters  made  up  a 
greater  proportion  of  the  population.  Crawford  received  an  ap- 
preciable vote  in  only  two  counties,  while  Adams  attracted  the 
greater  part  of  the  opposition. 

It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  Alabama-Tombigbee  River 
basin,  which  later  became  the  stronghold  of  Whigism,  was  car- 
ried for  Jackson  in  1824,  yet  with  a  smaller  margin  than  he 
obtained  in  the  other  sections  of  the  State.  There  was  the 
nucleus  here  among  the  planters  for  a  strong  fight  when  cir- 
cumstances should  give  them  an  argument  which  could  attract 
allies. 

--  The  returns  are  to  be  found  in  the  Huntsville  Democrat  for  Nov.  22» 
1824,  and  in  the  Cahwba  Press  of  the  same  date. 


Chapter  XII. 


LOCAL  POLITICS  AND  FEDERAL  RELATIONS, 
1824-1828. 

After  the  election  of  1824,  there  was  a  distinct  change  in 
the  political  situation  in  Alabama.  No  sooner  was  Jackson 
defeated  than  his  friends  announced  their  determination  to 
"fight  the  battle  o'er  again/'^  and  their  opponents  recognized 
the  futility  of  a  further  struggle  against  the  General.  The 
administration  was  able  to  hold  a  few  scattered  supporters, 
but  even  the  Southern  Advocate,  of  Huntsville,  which  had  been 
an  ardent  friend  of  Adams  before  the  election,  now  went 
over  to  the  cause  of  Jackson,  though  this  change  was  clearly 
one  of  letter  rather  than  of  spirit.  Among  the  Crawford  men 
the  defection  was  even  more  general.  Their  hero  was  no  long- 
er in  the  race,  and  it  was  left  for  them  to  make  the  best  terms 
they  could  for  themselves.  The  new  editor  of  the  Huntsville 
Democrat,  the  acknowledged  champion  of  "The  People"  in  the 
State,  admitted  that  he  had  supported  Crawford  in  1824,2  but 
former  allegiance  was  not  held  against  any  man  in  those  days 
unless  there  was  some  special  reason  for  doing  so.  When 
resolutions  proposing  Jackson  for  the  presidency  were  passed 
by  the  legislature  in  1827,  their  mover  was  no  other  than 
Dixon  H.  Lewis,  nephew  of  Boiling  Hall,  and  closely  connect- 
ed with  all  the  supporters  of  Crawford  who  had  led  the  Geor- 
gia faction  in  Alabama.  Adams  had  to  be  beaten  and  only 
Jackson  could  beat  him. 

Yet  beneath  this  general  accord  regarding  Jackson,  there 
were  political  divisions  on  local  questions  which  were  more  sig- 
nificant of  the  true  state  of  the  public  mind.  In  1825  the 
term  of  Israel  Pickens  expired  and  John -Murphy  was  elected 
to  the  governorship  without  opposition.  Murphy,  like  Pickens, 
was  from  North  Carolina,  and  a  supporter  of  the  State  Bank. 
His  unopposed  election  indicates  the  completeness  of  the  tri- 
umph of  the  popular  cause  and  is  a  tribute  to  the  political  sa- 
gacity of  the  retiring  Governor. 

The  first  important  question  to  come  up  was  the  location  of 
the  capitol.     The  constitution  had  provided  that,  during  the 

1  Tuscumbian,  March  7,  1825,  from  the  Nashville  Gazette, 

2  Huntsville  Democrat.  Nov.  7,  1826, 


LOCAL  POLITICS  AND  FEDERAL  RELATIONS,  1824-1828  111 

session  of  1825,  the  legislature  might  remove  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment from  Cahawba,  but  if  no  removal  v^ere  made  at  that 
time,  the  original  seat  would  be  permanent.  The  subject  was 
taken  up  with  alacrity  and  several  new  locations  were  propos- 
ed. The  fight  developed  mainly  between  Cahawba  and  Tus- 
caloosa, the  former  being  favored  by  the  southern  and  south- 
eastern, the  lattter  by  the  northern  and  northwestern  portions 
of  the  State.  Cahawba  was  accessible  to  all  the  Alabama  Riv- 
er region,  while  Tuscaloosa  had  the  advantage  of  accessibility 
from  the  Tenessee  Valley  as  well  as  water  communication 
with  the  Tombigbee  region.  In  the  final  struggle,  the  Ten- 
nessee, Tombigee,  and  Warrior  valleys  were  able  to  outvote 
the  Alabama  River  region,  and  the  capitol  went  to  Tuscaloosa.^ 
Cahawba  had  proved  to  be  an  unhealthy  location,  but  it  was. 
urged  against  Tuscaloosa  that  it  was  too  near  the  Mississippi 
line,  and  there  was  little  prospect  that  the  capital  could  remain 
there  after  the  Indian  lands  east  of  the  Coosa  River  should  be 
opened  up. 

Such  a  question  was  not  good  for  party  purposes,  but  an- 
other came  up  at  this  time  which  was  ridden  for  all  it  was, 
worth  by  the  seekers  for  office. 

In  1818  the  legislature  of  Alabama  Territory  had  passed  an 
act  which  abolished  all  limitations  on  the  amount  of  interest 
which  might  be  charged  on  loans.  John  W.  Walker  then 
wrote  to  Tait  saying  that  he  was  largely  responsible  for  the 
measure,  and  asking  his  friend  what  he  thought  of  it.^  It 
looks  like  a  work  of  ignorance  or,  more  probably,  of  self-ag- 
grandizement on  the  part  of  the  law-makers,  and  it  aroused 
such  strong  opposition  at  the  time  that  it  was  repealed  the  next 
year  without  struggle.  But,  in  the  meantime,  numerous  con- 
tracts had  been  made  under  its  provisions  and  the  interest 
called  for  ranged  from  60  to  240  per  cent,  a  year.  Many  of 
these  contracts  provided  that  a  certain  sum  was  to  be  paid  on 
a  certain  date,  but  that  if  the  debt  were  not  discharged  as  pre- 
scribed, it  was  to  bear  interest  of  from  five  to  twenty  per  cent* 
a  month  until  paid.  A  number  of  such  contracts  were  carried 
out,  but  finally  legal  opposition  was  made  and  in  1824  it  was 
decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Alabama  that  the  interest  in 
contracts  of  this  kind  w'as  in  the  nature  of  a  penalty  and  hence 
illegal.     This  protected  those  who  had  not  already  paid,  but 

3  Alabama,  House  Journal,  1825,  75;  Senate  Journal,  1825,  47. 

4  Tait  Papers,  J.  W.  Walker  to  C.  Tait,  Sept.  22,  1818. 


112  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

those  who  had  paid  were  in  another  situation.  They  applied 
for  relief,  but  the  court  decided  in  1827  that  a  statute  of  limi- 
tations barred  the  recovery  of  money  which  had  already  been 
paid  out  under  such  contracts.'' 

This  has  the  appearance  of  a  purely  legal  matter,  and  so  it 
should  have  been,  but  it  was  turned  into  a  political  question 
chiefly  through  the  instrumentality  of  William  Kelly  who, 
having  failed  of  re-election  to  the  Senate  in  1824,  had  returned 
to  the  legislature  and  was  counsel  for  a  number  of  those  who 
were  seeking  to  recover  money  paid  out  under  the  "big-inter- 
est" contracts  and  who  lost  their  cases  by  the  decision  of  1827. 
Whereas  the  judges  had  been  very  popular  because  of  their 
decision  of  1824,  a  cry  was  now  raised  against  them.  They 
were  accused  of  being  enemies  of  the  people  and  in  league 
with  the  money-lenders.  The  old  cry  against  the  "Royal  Par- 
ty" of  Huntsville  was  revived  and  there  was  said  to  be  a  "Rad- 
ical Party"  in  the  south  which  was  the  counterpart  of  the 
northern  royalists.  This  party  was  not  supposed  to  be  made 
up  of  any  section  of  the  public,  but  of  a  small  group  of  men 
in  the  legislature, — the  old  guard  of  the  Crawford  faction, — 
who  were  working  for  their  own  interest.  The  Huntsville 
Democrat  presented  its  view  of  the  situation  as  follows : 

"In  no  county  in  the  State,  has  the  spirit  of  local  partyism 

raged  with  equal  violence  as  in  Madison  County But 

this  local  feeling  has  pervaded  the  whole  state,  in  some  coun- 
ties quite  covertly ;  while  in  others,  it  has  burned  with  the  ut- 
most intensity.  Some  twelve  or  fifteen  years  ago,  the  Indian 
title  to  a  large  portion  of  Alabama  was  extinguished  and 
straighway  the  tide  of  emigration  set  strongly  towards  this 
fertile  territory.  Persons  flocked  to  it  from  all  quarters ;  few 
of  them  wealthy — most  from  the  expectation  of  bettering  their 
fortunes.  It  was  not  to  be  presumed  that  a  mass  thrown  thus 
loosely  together  could  have  pursued  any  systematic  plan  of  in- 
ternal policy,  or  have  been  actuated  by  anything  like  an  iden- 
tity of  interests.  It  was  consequently  easy  for  an  inconsid- 
erable minority  acting  in  concert,  and  with  a  determinate  and 
well  understood  purpose  to  give  tone  to  public  sentiment,  to 
carry  their  measures,  and  possess  themselves  of  all  valuable 
offices.  Now,  such  a  minority  did  exist  in  this  state.  They 
were  chiefly  composed  of  Georgians,  who,  from  previous  ac- 

5  Somerville,  Trial  of  the  Judges,  62-75 ;  Brickel's  Digest,  Vol.  II,  Pt.  1, 
pages  4-5;  Southern  Advocate,  Feb.  9,  1827,  March  9,  1827;  Huntsville 
Democrat,  Jan.  19,  1827. 


LOCAL  POLITICS  AND  FEDERAL  RELATIONS,  1824-1828  113 

quaintance,  attachment  to  the  civil  institutions  of  Georgia, 
and  a  more  than  common  portion  of  wealth,  seemed  to  be  con- 
nected together  by  a  tie,  the  strength  of  which  they  all  recog- 
nized by  the  support  which  they  mutually  extended  to  each 
other These  circumstances  inspired  greater  confi- 
dence, and  led  to  such  developments  of  their  views,  as  to  cre- 
ate a  distrust  of  that  purity  of  character  for  which  they  had 
heretofore  obtained  credit.  They  evinced  a  determination  to 
monopolize  all  power,  and  to  fill  every  office  with  their  own 
creatures.  Many  of  these  were  so  glaringly  deficient  in  the 
requisite  qualifications,  that  the  people  began  to  discover  the 
"family"  arrangements  which  were  making  to  impose  rulers 
over  them.  The  yeomanry  of  this  country,  devotedly  attach- 
ed to  Democratic  principles,  could  but  illy  brook  this  assump- 
tion of  superiority It  is  to  Israel  Pickens  that  the 

people  are  chiefly  indebted  for  their  dethronement;  it  was  he 
who  first  broke  the  charm  and  showed  that  the  Georgians  with 
all  their  management  and  manoeuvering  were  not  invincible. 

Madison  County  was  their  great  headquarters ;  here  it  was 
that  the  plan  of  operations  was  generally  framed;  and  from 
thence  communicated  to  their  partisans  throughout  the  State." 

The  article  goes  on  to  say  that  these  men  had  control  of  the 
Huntsville  bank,  and  that  they  were  responsible  for  the  pas- 
sage of  the  act  abolishing  interest  limitations  in  1818.^ 

In  1826  Henry  Chambers  died  and  the  vacancy  thus  left  in 
the  Senate  was  filled  by  the  appointment  of  Israel  Pickens. 
But  ill  health  forced  Pickens  to  resign  during  the  same  year, 
and  the  election  of  a  successor  soon  occupied  the  attention  of 
the  legislature.  The  opposing  candidates  were  John  McKin- 
ley,  a  wealthy  lawyer  of  Florence,  and  Clement  C.  Clay,  a 
prominent  attorney  of  Huntsville.  Though  Clay  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Territorial  Council  and  is  said  to  have  voted  for  the 
fateful  interest  bill  of  1818,  and  though  he  was  at  one  time  a 
stock-holder  in  the  Merchants'  and  Planters'  Bank  of  Hunts- 
ville, he  did  not  become  identified  with  the  capitalist  group  at 
Huntsville  and  seems  to  have  kept  himself  square  with  the 
people.  In  1820  he  became  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Alabama,  but  resigned  that  position  in  1823  to  re- 
sume his  legal  practice.'^  This  was  his  first  appearance  be- 
fore the  public  since  that  time,  and  there  seems  to  have  been 
no  reason  why  he  should  not  have  received  the  support  of  the 

«  Huntsville  Democrat,  Feb.  9,  1827. 


114  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

popular  party,  but  the  Huntsville  Democrat  opposed  him  for 
reasons  which  are  not  evident  and  gave  its  support  to  McKin- 
ley,  whom  the  same  paper  had  opposed  and  labeled  an  aristo- 
crat when  he  stood  against  Kelley  for  the  Senate  in  1822. ^ 

That  all  this  talk  about  party,  though  based  upon  certain 
concrete  facts,  was  largely  worked  up  for  campaign  purposes, 
is  indicated  by  an  apparently  candid  statement  made  by  Mc- 
Kinley  shortly  before  the  election  of  1826.     It  runs  as  follows : 

"I  know  nothing  of  the  Royal  party  or  its  policy,  further 
than  I  have  seen  the  subject  discussed  in  the  newspapers,  and 
as  far  as  comprehended  by  that  discussion,  I  have  no  personal 
or  political  interest  in  it.  I  had  been  a  citizen  of  this  state 
about  a  year  before  I  ever  heard  of  the  existence  of  a  party  in 
it.  I  was  then  informed  by  a  friend,  if  I  supported  a  particu- 
lar individual  for  Governor,  I  would  be  considered  as  belong- 
ing to  the  Georgia  party.  What  was  meant  by  this  party,  I 
did  not  know,  nor  could  my  friend  inform  me  as  he  was  equal- 
ly a  stranger  to  its  meaning  or  object.  In  1821,  I  heard 
for  the  first  time  of  the  Royal  party,  and  was  equally  at  a  loss 
to  know  what  was  the  meaning  of  the  name  or  the  object  of 
that  party.  In  the  fall  of  that  year,  I  removed  to  this  place 
where  I  heard  but  little  more  of  parties  until  the  fall  of  1822, 
when  I  became  a  candidate  for  the  same  office  for  which  I  am 
now  a  candidate.  When  at  the  seat  of  government  pending 
the  election  between  Judge  Kelly  and  myself,  the  charge  of 
belonging  to  the  Georgia  party,  Huntsville,  and  Royal  party, 
was  brought  to  bear  upon  my  election.  I  had  no  mode  of  de- 
fending myself  against  the  charge,  but  simply  denying  that  I 
belonged  to  any  party,  which  was  the  fact.  In  that  contest 
I  was  beaten  by  a  single  vote,  to  which  I  submitted,  I  hope, 
with  becoming  propriety.  I  continued  to  reside  in  this  place 
until  February,  1825,  without  hearing  my  name  connected 
with  party,  and  having  kept  myself  aloof  from  all  party  con- 
tests, had  hoped  to  escape  such  an  unfounded,  and  as  I  con- 
ceived, ungenerous  imputation.  But  shortly  after  my  return 
to  Huntsville  in  the  early  part  of  1825  this  charge  was  revived 
against  me,  although  I  was  a  candidate  for  no  office,  nor  took 
any  active  part  in  the  local  or  general  politics  of  the  country. 
In  the  year  1823  a  newspaper  discussion  took  place    in    the 

'For  a  sketch  of  Clay's  career,  see  Pickett,  History  of  Alabi.mo.,  648- 
653. 
8  Southern  Advocate,  Jan,  12,  1827;  Huntsville  Democrat,  Dec.  29,  1826 


LOCAL  POLITICS  AND  FEDERAL  RELATIONS,  1824-1828  115 

Democrat  and  Advocate  upon  the  subject  of  party,  when  it 
assumed  a  more  tangible  shape.  The  principal  cause  of  coni- 
plaint,  as  well  as  I  now  recollect,  against  what  was  termed  the 
Koyal  party,  was  the  statute  of  February,  1818,  the  combin- 
ation of  certain  men  to  procure  its  passage,  and  the  aid  af- 
'  forded  by  the  Huntsville  bank  to  those  men,  to  obtain  funds  to 
lend  at  exorbitant  interest."^ 

This  election,  in  which  no  question  of  policy  was  involved, 
and  in  which  the  two  candidates  seem  to  have  been  so  nearly 
equal  in  regard  to  fitness  for  popular  leadership,yet  which  was 
waged  with  so  much  bitterness  of  partisan  feeling,  marks  the 
point  at  which  the  popular  party,  having  gained  an  undis- 
puted ascendancy,  was  becoming  a  prey  to  factious  contests 
among  its  leaders.  The  struggle,  though  close,  resulted  in  fa- 
vor of  McKinley.i" 

But  Kelly  and  the  Democrat  did  not  mean  to  be  without  an 
issue  of  some  sort.  The  fight  against  the  Supreme  Court 
judges  was  pressed.  Kelly  brought  charges  before  the  legis- 
lature against  three  of  them  on  the  plea  that  their  decision  of 
1827  had  gone  counter  to  the  precedent  established  by  the  cas- 
es of  1824  and  that  this  was  an  improper  application  of  law  on 
their  part.  The  complaint  was  not  sustained,  however,  and 
the  judges  were  exonerated  by  an  overwhelming  vote.^^  But 
the  matter  was  not  allowed  to  drop  here.  A  constitutional 
amendment  reducing  judicial  tenure  from  the  period  of  good 
behaviour  to  a  term  of  six  years  was  passed  by  the  legislature 
in  1827;  approved  the  next  year  by  popular  vote,  ^^  and  incor- 
porated as  the  first  amendment  to  the  State  constitution  in 
1830. 

But  while  the  disintegration  of  the  Crawford  faction  after 
1824  had  deprived  local  politics  of  a  real  issue,  national  ques- 
tions were  coming  more  to  the  front.  On  some  of  these,  such 
as  the  tariff,  internal  improvements,  and  slavery,  the  popular 
mind  was  well  made  up.  On  others,  such  as  Indian  policy  and 
state  rights,  there  was  much  more  divergence  of  opinion.  No 
one  in  the  State  had  formulated  any  policies  in  regard  to  these 
questions,  nor  were  there  any  political  divisions  along  these 
lines.  The  legislature  had  to  act  from  time  to  time  on  ques- 
tions connected  with  such  subjects,  but  the  votes  showed  no 

»  Huntsville  Democrat,  Oct.  27,  1826. 

10  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1826.  20-21. 

11  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1826,  193. 

12  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1828,  76;  Mobile  Register,  Nov.  21,  1828. 


116  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

definite  alignments  and  seem  to  have  been  dictated  by  person- 
al convictions  or  temporary  considerations. 

As  to  the  tariff,  there  was  a  general  and  strong  conviction 
that  it  was  wrong  to  tax  the  agriculture  of  one  section  of  the 
country  for  the  benefit  of  the  manufactures  of  another.  Yet 
there  was  a  minority,  led  by  the  Southern  Advocate  and  the 
supporters  of  Adams,  which  advocated  a  "competitive"  tariff 
and  insisted  that  the  South  must  develop  manufactures. 

The  interest  of  Alabama  in  the  Muscle  Shoals  and  the  Coosa- 
Hiwassee  canal  projects,  and  the  proposed  road  from  Wash- 
ington to  New  Orleans,  brought  about  a  general  demand  for 
internal  improvements  constructed  with  Federal  aid.^^  xhis 
threw  the  State  astride  on  the  question  of  state  rights,  for  it 
was  difficult  to  support  improvements  and  denounce  the  tar- 
iff at  the  same  time ;  and  Randolph  and  Macon  were  never  tired 
of  warning  that  to  give  the  Government  the  right  to  con- 
struct public  works  within  the  states  would  give  it  the  right 
also  to  free  the  slaves. 

This  situation  necessitated  a  certain  amount  of  hedging 
when  it  became  necessary  to  formulate  general  political  doc- 
trines, or  to  make  out  a  case  for  favorite  presidential  aspir- 
ants. Before  the  election  of  1828,  Jackson  was  questioned  as 
to  his  views  and  replied  that  they  were  the  same  as  they  had 
been  in  1824  when  he  supported  the  tariff  and  internal  im- 
provement measures.  ^^  The  friends  of  Adams  stated  that  no 
distinction  between  the  two  men  could  be  made  on  these 
grounds,  and  the  contention,  at  this  time,  was  at  least  reason- 
able. The  preference  for  Jackson  was  personal,  sectional,  and 
democratic. 

But  while  the  position  of  Alabama  was  not  strictly  logical 
according  to  the  political  schools  of  the  time,  it  was  practical 
and  well-defined.  Very  little  sympathy  was  extended  to 
Troup  while  he  was  making  his  fight  against  the  Administra- 
tion on  the  question  of  the  removal  of  the  Creek  Indians ;  and 
Georgia  was  roundly  denounced  for  presuming  that  one  state 
could  upset  the  operations  of  the  National  Government.^^  The 
prevalent  opinion  was  that  both  Troup  and  Adams  had  behav- 

13  The  Southern  Advocate  for  Sept.  19,  1828,  published  toasts  drunk 
at  a  dinner  given  the  Congressional  delegation  of  Alabama.  Here  the 
tariff  was  condemned  and  internal  improvements  supported. 

14  Southern  Advocate,  April  25,  1828.  Jackson's  letter  is  dated  Feb- 
ruary 28,  1828. 

^^>  Southern  Advcate,  Oct.  14,  1825,  March  16,  1827;  Huntsville  Dem- 
ocrat, Sept.  16,  1825,  July  29,  1825;  Tusciimbian,  Nov,  7,  1825. 


LOCAL  POLITICS  AND  FEDERAL  RELATIONS,  1824-1828  117 

ed  rashly;  that  the  Government  was  under  obligations  to  re- 
move the  Indians  from  the  State ;  and  that  Adams  had  blunder- 
ed when  he  threatened  to  use  Federal  troops  to  enforce  his 
policy,  just  as  Troup  had  erred  in  his  attitude  of  uncompro-. 
mising  defiance.  The  original  treaty  with  the  Indians,  which 
was  later  annulled  and  became  the  bone  of  contention,  had  se- 
cured a  small  tract  of  the  Creek  lands  which  lay  within  the 
limits  of  Alabama.  Governor  Murphy  raised  the  question 
whether  a  third  party  could  be  deprived  of  rights  under  a  con- 
tract even  though  it  were  not  enforced  as  to  the  contracting 
parties.  1*5  The  question  was  taken  up  in  the  legislature  and  a 
bill  passed  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State  over  the 
lands  concerned.^"  But  this  was  looked  upon  as  merely  the 
testing  of  a  legal  proposition,  and  the  matter  was  carried  no 
further. 

A  more  severe  strain  upon  the  loyalty  of  the  State  came 
when  the  "tariff  of  abominations"  was  passed  in  1828.  There 
was  universal  dissatisfaction  and  even  disgust  with  the  policy 
pursued.  It  was  felt  that  the  interests  of  the  cotton  states 
were  being  sacrificed  to  the  ambition  of  the  manufacturing 
district  and,  whether  it  was  wise,  whether  it  was  constitution- 
al as  the  Constitution  had  originally  been  intended,  there  is  no 
question  but  that  the  planters  were  right  as  to  the  practical 
bearing  of  the  situation.  Protests  went  up  on  all  sides;  the 
development  of  home  manufactures  was  urged;  and  the  boy- 
cotting of  imports  from  the  manufacturing  states  was  advocat- 
ed. It  was  even  urged  that  it  would  be  possible  to  lay  duties 
upon  such  imports,  but  it  was  always  made  clear  that  all  re- 
sistance was  to  be  peaceable.  When  forcible  resistance  was 
suggested  or  threatened  in  resolutions  which  were  brought  up 
before  the  legislature,  the  portentous  clauses  were  stricken  out 
by  decisive  votes  ;is  and  Senator  Willam  R.  King,  while  con- 
demning the  tariff  in  an  address  at  Selma,  made  the  following 
statement : 

"With  a  view.  Gentlemen,  to  effect  political  objects,  a  sys- 
tematic effort  has  been  made  to  impress  the  belief  upon  the 
people  of  our  country,  that  the  high  minded  and  patriotic  in- 

i«  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1826,  11. 

1"  Alabama,  Sessional  Acts,  1826,  32. 

IS  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1826,  101-102;  Ibid.,  1828.  207.  In  the 
latter  instance  there  were  stricken  from  a  resolution  condemning  the  tar- 
iff the  following  words:  "and  that  open  and  unqualified  resistance  should 
only  be  the  dernier  ressort." 


118  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

habitants  of  the  South  and  South  West — ^the  advocates  and 
supporters  of  a  most  distinguished  and  meritorious  citizen — 
are  engaged  in  planning  the  dissolution  of  our  union;  the  de- 
structimi  of  this  federative  Government— the  legacy  of  our 
patriotic  and  sainted  Fathers. "^^ 

On  this  occasion  the  following  toasts  were  drunk:  "The 
Union  of  the  States — Palsied  be  the  arm  that  shall  be  raised  to 
sever  it,"  and,  "The  Tariff — Unconstitutional  in  principle,  un- 
just and  unequal  in  its  operation — We  will  not  oppose  it  with 
violence  and  passion,  but  by  relying  on  our  own  resources/'^o 
The  editor  of  the  Mobile  Register,  referring  to  an  address  of 
the  citizens  of  Colleton  district.  South  Carolina,  wrote:  "We 
will  frankly  declare,  it  was  not  from  the  State  of  South  Caro- 
lina that  we  ever  expected  a  proposition  the  bare  contempla- 
tion of  which  must  cause  the  heart  of  a  patriot  to  sink  within 
him."2i 

But  there  was  another  movement  on  foot  which  led  in  a  dif- 
ferent direction  and  which  was  big  with  meaning  for  the  fu- 
ture. This  movement,  though  not  original  in  conception,  was 
a  new  influence  in  Alabama  and  it  was  important  at  that  time 
only  because  its  leader,  who  knew  what  he  believed  and  where 
he  was  going,  was  able  to  fit  his  purpose  to  the  material  in 
hand  and  secure  the  temporary  support  of  men  who  did  not 
understand  whither  he  was  leading  them.  This  new  influence, 
is  interesting  not  only  because  of  its  significance  for  the  fu- 
ture, but  for  its  connection  with  the  past. 

Dixon  H.  Lewis  was  born,  according  to  Yancey's  sketch  of 
him, 2-  in  Hancock  County,  Virginia,  in  1802.  His  father  was 
among  those  Virginians  who  moved  to  Georgia  in  the  days 
when  upland  cotton  was  coming  to  supplant  tobacco  as  the 
main  agricultural  staple  of  the  South.  From  Georgia  he  mov- 
ed to  Autauga  County,  Alabama,  in  1820. 

Young  Lewis  studied  law  at  Cahawba  in  the  office  of  Henry 
Hitchcock,  a  New  England  man  who  had  come  out  to  Alabama 
as  secretary  to  the  Territorial  governor,  and  who  was  now  At- 
torney General  of  the  State.  The  political  influence  in  the  life 
of  Lewis  was  exerted  largely  by  his  uncle.  Boiling  Hall,  the 
Georgia  Congressman  who  had  come  to  Alabama  with  Tait, 

19  Huntsville  Democrat,  Nov.  7,  1828. 

20  Southern  Advocate,  Nov.  7,  1828. 

21  Mobile  Register,  July  12,  1828. 

22  Obituary  of  Dixon  Hall  Lewis,  MS.  Yancey  Papers.  See  also  Dixon 
H.  Lewis,  by  T.  M.  Williams,  in  Alabama  Polytechnic  Institute  Histori- 
cal Studies,  1912. 


LOCAL  POLITICS  AND  FEDERAL  RELATIONS,  1824-1828  119 

Walker,  and  the  other  supporters  of  Crawford.  Hall  was  not 
only  a  friend  of  Crawford,  but  of  Nathaniel  Macon,  John  Tay- 
lor, and  others  who  had  long  stood  for  strict  construction  of 
the  Constitution. 

The  views  of  Lewis  were  essentially  the  views  of  these 
men,  whom  Alabama  had  heard  from  afar  and  ignored.  But 
in  1826  the  gigantic  young  lawyer  won  a  spirited  election  in 
Montgomery  County  and  went  up  to  the  legislature  to  make  his 
debut  in  politics.  He  had  not  been  there  more  than  twenty- 
four  hours  when  he  drew  up  a  set  of  resolutions  condemning 
the  exercise  of  implied,  constructive,  and  unconstitutional 
powers  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  had  it  pre- 
sented before  the  Senate  by  his  friend.  Matt  Clay.  These 
resolutions  were  passed  with  but  one  dissenting  vote  after 
there  had  been  stricken  from  them  the  following  clause : 

"Resolved,  That  we  believe  the  time  has  again  arrived  when 
it  is  necessary  for  the  States  to  assert  their  constitutional 
rights,  and  with  becoming  firmness  to  resist  the  increasing 
progress  of  federal  power."23 

In  pursuance  of  his  views,  Lewis  took  up  the  Indian  ques- 
tion and  in  1828  presented  a  report  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  which  it  was  argued  that  the  State  had  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  natives  within  her  borders  and  that  the  United 
States  had  no  right  to  interfere  between  them.^^  Along  with 
the  report  he  presented  a  bill  proposing  to  extend  the  juris- 
diction of  the  State  over  the  Creeks,  and  though  almost  every 
member  of  the  House  at  first  disapproved  the  idea,  the 
measure  was  finally  passed,  receiving  the  bulk  of  its  support 
from  the  counties  bordering  the  Creek  reservation.-'^ 

But  it  was  not  only  on  National  questions  that  Lewis  had 
convictions.  He  had  inherited  from  Boiling  Hall  and  the 
Crawford  men  a  sincere  dislike  for  the  State  Bank  and,  though 
at  this  time  the  foundations  of  that  institution  were  unassail- 
able, he  began  to  attack  it  at  vulnerable  points.  There  had 
been  a  noisy  contest  in  the  legislature  over  the  question  as  to 
whether  that  body  was  permitted  to  inspect  the  private  ac- 
counts of  the  bank.  The  cashier  refused  to  show  the  private 
books  to  the  visiting  committee  and  the  opponents  of  the  in- 
stitution at  once  raised  their  voices  in  protest.  They  appar- 
ently failed  in  their  attempt  to  cast  discredit  upon  the  manage- 

23  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1826,  101-102. 

24  Alabama,  House  Journal,  1828,  220,  223. 

25  Ibid.,  263. 


120  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

ment.  The  procedure  of  Lewis  was  less  spectacular,  but  more 
to  the  point.-"  The  legislature  was  in  the  habit  of  levying  tax- 
es in  excess  of  disbursements  and  using  the  balance  for  bank- 
ing purposes.  It  was  this  practice  which  Lewis  now  attacked 
and  succeeded  in  stopping.^^ 

The  attitude  of  the  new  leader  on  the  question  of  the  State 
Bank  brings  out  his  connection  with  the  earlier  opponents  of 
the  popular  party,  but  the  manner  in  which  political  ground 
had  shifted  is  shown  by  the  fact  that,  when  resolutions  pro- 
posing Jackson  for  the  Presidency  were  to  be  brought  before 
the  legislature  in  1827,  it  was  Lewis  who  was  chosen  to  pre- 
sent them. 

After  condemning  the  existing  Administration  because  it 
had  departed  from  the  principle  of  strict  construction ;  becausie 
it  had  accepted  internal  improvements  as  a  fixed  policy — and 
one  destructive  of  State  sovereignty;  because  of  its  attitude 
on  the  Panama  mission ;  and  because  it  had  adopted  the  policy 
of  encouraging  one  industry  at  the  expense  of  another  by  pro- 
hibitory duties ;  the  resolutions  go  on  to  say : 

"Another  prominent  act  of  Mr.  Adams  requires  particular 
notice,  viz :  his  threat  to  employ  military  force  against  one  of 
the  sovereign  members  of  the  confederacy.  So  great  a  want 
of  temper,  such  an  entire  misconception  of  the  character  of  the 
American  people,  and  so  extraordinary  a  claim  to  power  is  be- 
lieved to  be  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  any  preceding  ad- 
ministration. More  forbearance  might  have  been  expected 
from  a  prince  of  unlimited  powers  to  one  of  the  most  rebel- 
lious provinces  of  his  dominions.  Before  any  negotiation  of 
a  friendly  character  was  attempted,  or  even  a  measure  of  com- 
promise proposed,  the  State  of  Georgia  was  threatened  with 
the  military  force  of  the  Union  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  her 
into  an  unconstitutional  abandonment  of  substantial  rights  of 
sovereignty,  secured  to  her  by  the  solemn  stipulation  of  treaty 
— This  State  cannot  but  share  some  portion  of  the  responsi- 
bility thrown  upon  Georgia  in  this  matter,  inasmuch  as  an  en- 
actment of  the  last  legislature,  and  a  resolution  of  the  same 
body  recognized  the  principles  for  which  Georgia  was  then 
contending.  As  Alabamians,  therefore,  the  committee  feel 
bound  to  protest  against  this  violent  measure  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States To  counteract  so  powerful  an 

26  Cahawba  Press,  March  18,  1826. 

2"  Yancey,  Obituary  Notice  of  Lewis,  15;  See  House  Journal,  1826, 
223-224,  for  report  on  finances. 


LOCAL  POLITICS  AND  FEDERAL  RELATIONS,  1824-1828  121 

influence,  a  systematic  effort  is  required  of  the  people,  and  a 
concentration  of  their  entire  strength  on  some  distinguished 
individual."28 

General  Jackson  was  named  as  that  individual  and  the  res- 
olutions passed  by  a  vote  of  fifty-four  to  eight,  but  they  do  not 
represent  the  kind  of  Jacksonism  which  was  characteristic  of 
the  earlier  supporters  of  the  General.  The  young  lawyer  from 
Montgomery  had  a  remarkable  faculty  for  bringing  the  legis- 
lature to  his  way  of  thinking  when  he  did  not  have  strong  con- 
victions to  overcome,  and  here  was  a  fine  denunciation  of 
Adams.  It  was  gladly  accepted  because  it  served  the  purpose 
in  hand,  and  no  one  thought  it  worth-while  to  criticise  its 
purely  negative  support  of  Jackson  and  its  very  positive  sup- 
port of  state  rights,  to  which  the  majority  of  the  people  did 
not  subscribe. 

Though  Adams  electors  were  nominated,  the  General  car- 
ried the  State  almost  without  oppositions^  and  soon  entered 
upon  the  administration  that  was  to  see  the  birth  of  questions 
which  would  divide  his  followers.  In  Alabama,  under  the 
leadership  of  Lewis,  the  planters  were  to  add  a  plea  for  the 
safety  of  the  slave  states  to  their  old  distrust  of  mass-govern- 
ment, and  divide  the  Commonwealth  into  two  distinct,  well- 
defined,  and  fairly-balanced  parties. 

28  Alabama,  House  Journal,  1827,  182  et  seq. 

29  The  Huntsville  Democrat  for  Dec.  5,  1828,  gives  the  vote  as  follows: 
Jackson,  13,384;   Adams,  1,629. 


Chapter  XIII. 


RELIGION,  EDUCATION,  AND  THE  PRESS 

The  press  came  into  Alabama  with  the  settlers  and  exer- 
cised a  strong  influence  during  the  formative  period  of  the 
State.  The  little  four-page  sheets  which  came  out  once  or 
twice  a  week  were  largely  taken  up  with  advertisements  and 
notices.  A  crude  system  of  classifying  advertisements  enabl- 
ed the  reader  to  select  readily  those  in  which  he  was  interest- 
ed. This  was  accomplished  by  inserting  a  small  cut  indica- 
tive of  the  subject-matter;  a  picture  of  a  tree,  for  instance, 
would  indicate  that  the  advertiser  had  land  for  sale;  a  cut  of 
a  house  would  show  that  buildings  were  for  rent  or  sale ;  while 
a  negro  with  a  bundle  swung  over  his  shoulder  at  the  end  of  a 
stick  would  proclaim  the  escape  of  a  slave. 

That  portion  of  the  paper,  usually  amounting  to  less  than 
two  of  the  four  pages,  which  was  devoted  to  the 
news  was  principally  taken  up  with  extracts  from  the  leading 
papers  of  the  older  states.  The  most  of  these  articles  related 
to  political  affairs,  but  foreign  news,  though  much  belated,  re- 
ceived relatively  more  attention  than  it  does  now.  A  florid 
style  was  typical  of  the  press  of  that  day,  and  words  were 
used  with  especial  freedom  when  a  political  subject  claimed 
the  attention  of  the  editor  or  contributor.  In  fact,  it  seems 
to  have  been  the  universal  practice  to  treat  a  political  oppon- 
ent as  a  moral  or  mental  delinquent. 

The  editors  of  the  Alabama  papers  confined  their  remarks 
to  one  or  two  columns,  where  they  expressed  their  opinions 
upon  National  politics,  or  subjects  of  local  interest.  Person- 
al affairs  were  never  paraded  in  print,  nor  was  mention  ever 
made  of  social  activities.  This  was  due,  not  only  to  ideas  of 
decorum  which  differ  from  ours,  but  also  to  the  conception 
that  the  press  was  strictly  a  public  institution.  Letters  from 
subscribers  on  political  matters  were  frequently  published, 
and  these  formed  an  important  element  in  every  discussion. 

The  first  newspaper  founded  in  Alabama  was  the  Madison 
Gazette,  established  at  Huntsville  in  1812  ;i  in  1816  its  name 

1  Smith  and  DeLand  (Pub.),  Northern  Alabama,  251. 


RELIGION,  EDUCATION,  AND  THE  PRESS  123 

was  changed  to  the  Alabama  Republican;^  and  in  1825  this 
was  consolidated  with  the  Alabamian  to  become  the  Southern 
Advocate.^  John  Boardman,  a  Massachusetts  man  who  allied 
himself  with  the  "Aristocratic  Party"  of  Huntsville,  was  editor 
first  of  the  Republican  and  later  of  the  Advocate.  He  sup- 
ported Adams  for  the  Presidency  in  1824  and,  though  going 
over  to  Jackson  in  1828,  he  always  opposed  the  State  Bank  and 
its  adherents. 

In  1823  an  opposition  paper  called  the  Democrat  was  found- 
ed at  Huntsville.4  Its  editor,  Mr.  William  B.  Long,  of  Ken- 
tucky, was  a  supporter  of  Clay.  Claiming  to  be  a  leader  of 
"the  people"  as  opposed  to  "the  aristocracy"  and  the  Alabama 
Republican,  he  hotly  took  issue  with  Boardman  on  the  ques- 
tion of  the  State  Bank ;  and  presently  came  over  to  the  support 
of  Jackson  for  the  Presidency.  Crawford  men,  the  Mer- 
chants' and  Planters'  Bank  of  Huntsville,  and  "aristocrats" 
in  general  were  the  particular  antipathies  of  the  Democrat;  at 
the  same  time  it  was  lenient  toward  those  who  combined  the 
support  of  the  State  Bank  with  that  of  Adams.  So  bitter  was 
its  attitude  toward  its  opponents  that  the  successor  of  Long,  a 
Mr.  Andrew  Wills,  who  had  come  from  Virginia  to  Huntsville 
as  a  school  teacher,  was  shot  down  on  the  street  by  a  political 
enemy. 

The  storm  center  of  Alabama  was  in  the  Tennessee  Valley, 
and  the  Democrat  and  the  Republican  expressed  the  extreme 
views  of  the  two  factions.  In  the  remainder  of  the  State 
there  was  less  agitation,  the  interior  towns  usually  having  but 
one  paper  which,  while  expressing  its  own  views,  took  a  mild 
attitude  so  as  to  retain  the  good-will  of  all  moderate  men. 

In  Mobile,  commercial  affairs  were  given  the  precedence 
over  politics.  The  first  paper  published  here,— the  Mobile 
Gazette, —  was  established  in  1816  by  a  Mr.  Cotton. ^  In  1821, 
Mr.  John  Battelle,  having  established  the  Montgomery  Repub- 
lican in  the  same  year,  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  J.  W. 
Townsend  and  founded  the  Mobile  Commercial  Register.^  John 
Battelle  was  a  native  of  Boston  and  a  member  of  the  Alabama 
Company  which  helped  to  found  the  town  of  Montgomery.  The 
Register  supported  Crawford  for  the  Presidency,  and  in  1822 

2  Betts,  History  of  Huntsville,  80. 

3  Southern  Advocate,  May  6,  1823. 

4  Alabama  Republican,  Oct.  10,  1823. 

5  Meek,  Romantic  Passages,  103-104. 

6  Blue,  History  of  Montgomery,  12. 


124  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

It  bought  out  the  Gazette,'  a  move  which  its  enemies  attribut- 
ed to  political  motives.  Its  principal  interest  was  in  com- 
mercial affairs,  and  it  opposed  the  establishment  of  a  State 
Bank  upon  the  plan  advocated  by  Pickens.  In  1822,  the  Mo- 
bile Argus  was  founded  by  Charles  A.  Henry,**  but  the  follow- 
ing year  the  firm  of  Nicholas  and  Henry  succeeded  to  the 
ownership  and  changed  the  name  to  the  Mercantile  Advertis- 
er.^ This  paper  supported  Adams  for  the  Presidency,  but, 
like  practically  all  the  others  of  that  faith,  it  claimed  "to  do 
justice  to  all." 

The  Montgomery  Republican,  founded  by  Battelle  in  1821, 
changed  its  name  in  1825  and  became  the  Montgomery  Joum- 
al.^^  It  supported  Adams  from  the  first.  The  Cahawba 
Press,  founded  in  1819  at  the  State  Capital  by  William  B.  Al- 
len,^ ^  a  native  of  Boston,  joined  the  support  of  Adams  with 
that  of  Pickens  and  the  State  Bank.  In  1824,  Allen  sold  his 
paper  to  a  Mr.  Lumpkin,  but  when  the  purchaser  proceeded 
to  support  Crawford,  the  friends  of  the  State  Bank,  both  Jack- 
son and  Adams  men,  combined  to  set  Allen  up  in  business 
again  and  to  give  a  new  lease  of  life  to  the  Press.^^  The  fact 
that  Allen,  in  spite  of  the  competition  of  Lumpkin  and  others, 
was  elected  State  printer  as  long  as  the  capital  remained  at  Ca- 
hawba, shows  that  the  support  of  Adams  was  not  particularly 
prejudicial  to  the  popularity  of  an  editor  so  long  as  he  was  a 
friend  of  "the  people's  Bank."i3 

In  1819,  there  were  six  papers  in  Alabama:  the  Alabama 
Republican  of  Hunts ville,  the  Halcyon  (established  at  St.  Ste- 
phens in  1814),  the  Mobile  Gazette,  the  Cahawba  Press,  the 
Blakely  Sun,  and  the  Tuscaloosa  Mirror.  By  1823  the  num- 
ber had  risen  to  ten,^^  and  the  next  year  it  amounted  to  fif- 
teen.15  During  1825,  there  were  sixteen  or  seventeen  papers 
published  in  the  State,^^  but  the  following  year  saw  the  num- 
ber reduced  again  to  ten.^''^ 

"^Mobile  Register,  May  9,  1822. 

8  St.  Stephens  Halcyon,  Nov.  2,  1822;  Cahawba  Press,  Nov.  22,  1822. 

9  Cahawba  Press,  Nov.  29,  1823. 

10  Blue,  History  of  Montgomery,  12. 

11  Blue  MS.,  Dallas  County,  16. 

"i-^  Cahawba  Press,  Sept,  25,  1824;  Tuscaloosa  Mirror,  Sept.  11,  1824. 

13  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1823,  96-97;  Ibid.,  1824,  38-39;  Ibid.,  1825, 
35. 

14  Cahawba  Press,  June  21,  1823. 

15  Alabama  Republican,  June  11,  1824. 

16  Tuscumbian,  April  18,  1825. 
iTHuntsville  Democrat,  Sept.  15,  1826. 


RELIGION,  EDUCATION,  AND  THE  PRESS  125 

The  great  publishing  activity  of  1824  was  undoubtedly  a  re- 
sult of  the  presidential  campaign  of  that  year,  and  it  speaks 
much  for  the  political  influence  of  the  press  at  that  time.  In 
1824  it  was  said  that,  of  the  fifteen  papers  in  Alabama,  seven, 
edited  by  Northern  men,  were  for  Adams ;  but  all  of  these  ex- 
cept the  Huntsville  Republican,  were  published  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  State. ^^  Two  years  later,  when  the  number  of 
papers  had  been  reduced  to  ten  and  the  support  of  Jackson 
bad  become  almost  universal  among  the  people,  three  publica- 
tions were  said  to  have  remained  steadfast  in  their  support  of 
Adams,  three  or  four  were  said  to  have  opposed  him  consist- 
ently, while  the  rest  maintained  an  uncertain  attitude.^^  The 
popularity  of  the  New  Englander  in  the  Alabama  press  can 
be  ascribed  primarily  to  the  northern  origin  of  so  many  of  the 
editors.  The  combination  of  the  support  of  Pickens  and  the 
State  Bank  with  that  of  Adams  increased  the  popularity  of 
publications  which  differed  from  the  majority  of  their  pat- 
rons on  the  subject  of  the  Presidency.  Nevertheless,  there 
was  a  tendency  among  the  newspaper  men  to  modify  their 
opinions  gradually  in  order  to  accomodate  themselves  to  the 
trend  of  public  sentiment. 

The  early  settlers  of  Alabama  were  not  indifferent  to  the 
problem  of  education,  and  the  grant  of  the  sixteenth  section 
in  each  township  for  local  schools  afforded  a  solid  foundation 
upon  which  to  build,  but  the  results  were  not  as  favorable  as 
might  have  been  expected.  In  good  agricultural  districts, 
the  sixteenth  section  usually  yielded  sufficient  income  to  sup- 
port, or  partially  support,  several  schools  with  fairly  well-paid 
teachers.  But  in  areas  where  the  soil  was  poor,  there  was 
little  income  from  the  land,  and  the  zeal  of  the  population  was 
usually  not  sufficient  to  make  up  the  deficit.20  Travelers 
noted  the  existence  of  creditable  free  schools  as  early  as 
1820,21  but  these  were  not  universal — perhaps  not  even  usual. 

One  of  the  main  difficulties  lay  in  the  management  of  the 
school  property.  This  was  vested  in  a  board  of  commission- 
ers appointed  by  the  county  authorities.22     Supervision  over 

18  Ibid.,  Aug.  24,  1824. 
!!•  Ibid.,  Sept.  15,  1826. 

20  Blandin,  Education  of  Women  in  the  So^Hh,  59. 

21  Hodgson,  Letters  from  North  America,  I,  144,  269. 

22  Acts  of  Dec.  18,  1819,  and  Jan.  1,  1823. 


126  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

these  commissions  was  vague  or  non-existent,  and  their  con- 
duct of  affairs  was  a  frequent  source  of  complaint.^s 

Even  such  support  as  the  public  schools  possessed  was  men- 
aced when  the  lure  of  the  State  Bank  induced  the  legislature 
to  promote  a  scheme  for  selling  the  sixteenth  sections  and  in- 
vesting the  proceeds  in  the  popular  institution.  In  1826,  the 
Alabama  delegation  was  instructed  by  the  legislature  to  se- 
cure from  Congress  permission  to  sell  these  lands  and  devote 
the  proceeds  to  the  maintenance  of  the  schools.-^  In  1827, 
Congress  granted  the  request,  providing  that  the  sale  should 
be  made  only  with  the  consent  of  the  township  concerned. 25 
The  next  year  the  legislature  made  provisions  for  carrying  out 
the  plan.  The  proceeds  of  the  lands  were  to  be  invested  in 
the  State  Bank  at  six  per  cent,  interest  and  the  income  devoted 
to  the  purpose  for  which  the  grant  had  been  made.2«  Thus 
the  Bank  could  look  forward  to  a  considerable  extension  of  its 
resources,  and  the  schools  could  contemplate  an  uncertain  fu- 
ture. 

In  addition  to  the  public  schools,  private  schools  were  es- 
tablished from  time  to  time  in  the  larger  towns,  and  by  1823 
as  many  as  eight  academies  had  been  chartered. 2"  Apparent- 
ly, the  first  of  these  to  go  into  actual  operation  was  the  Green 
Academy,  chartered  by  the  legislature  of  Mississippi  Territory 
in  1812.  Though  a  grant  of  five  hundred  dollars  was  made 
to  this  institution  in  1816,  and  funds  provided  later  brought 
the  total  up  to  about  two  thousand  dollars,  nothing  had  been 
done  toward  putting  the  school  in  operation  before  1820.28  ^.t 
about  this  time,  however,  the  trustees  bestirred  themselves, 
raised  funds  by  popular  subscription,  and  had  a  creditable  in- 
stitution in  operation  within  a  year  or  two. 29 

The  first  academy  for  girls  was  founded  at  Athens  in  1822, 
and  appears  to  have  been  a  successful  enterpriser^  At  about 
the  same  time,  a  private  school  for  girls  was  opened  in  Hunts- 
ville  by  a  Mr.  and  Mrs.  DeVendel. 

23  Huntsville  Democrat,  Feb.  9,  May  18,  and  June  29,  1827. 

24  Alabama,  House  Journal,  1826,  244. 

25  Statutes  at  Large,  IV,  237. 

26  Act.  of  Jan.  15.  1828. 

27  Toulmin,  Code  of  1823. 

28  Alabama  Republican,  Nov.  10,  1820. 

29  Mention  of  the  subscription  papers  is  made  in  the  Alabama  Republi- 
can for  Aug.  3,  1821,  and  the  address  of  the  trustees  is  among  the  Walk- 
er Papers. 

30  Incorporated  Dec.  9,  1822 ;  Southern  Advocate,  May  19,  1826. 


RELIGION,  EDUCATION,  AND  THE  PRESS  127 

The  subjects  usually  taught  during  this  period  included 
grammar,  history,  mathematics,  and  geography,  while  the 
schools  for  girls  included  in  their  curriculum  also  music, 
needle-work,  painting,  and  dancing.  The  academies  took  up 
instruction  in  Latin,  some  of  the  sciences,  and  rhetoric. 

The  Federal  Government  had  granted  two  townships  to  the 
State  of  Alabama  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  university, 
and  in  1820  that  institution  was  given  a  formal  existence  by 
the  legislature,  but  nothing  more  than  a  name  was  establish- 
ed at  this  time.31  In  1821  a  board  of  trustees  was  appointed 
and  given  power  to  dispose  of  the  university  lands,  invest  the 
proceeds  and  establish  the  institution  as  soon  as  a  site  should 
be  designated  by  the  legislature.32  The  first  meeting  of  the 
board  was  held  during  the  next  year  and  arrangements  were 
made  for  disposing  of  the  property.  It  was  decided  to  adopt 
a  credit  system  of  sales,  requiring  one-fourth  of  the  purchase 
money  to  be  paid  down,  and  the  remainder  in  three  install- 
ments.'^^  During  the  first  few  years  there  was  a  good  demand 
for  the  lands,  and  by  1828  the  total  sales  amounted  to  $285,- 
000.34 

But  the  State  Bank  interfered  here  also  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  University  was  delayed.  The  trustees  could  not 
move  until  the  legislature  had  decided  on  the  location,  and 
Governor  Pickens,  being  anxious  to  use  the  university  funds 
as  capital  for  the  Bank,  secured  the  postponement  of  the  loca- 
tion until  after  his  term  of  office  had  expired. ^s  It  was  in- 
tended from  the  first  that  the  greater  part  of  the  fund  should 
be  used  as  an  endowment,  and,  considering  the  hopes  that  were 
entertained  for  the  success  of  the  Bank,  there  was  nothing 
morally  wrong  in  the  Governor's  plan  for  investment,  but  his 
attitude  shows  where  his  interest  chiefly  lay.  About  $89,000, 
or  practically  all  the  cash  received  in  payment  on  the  lands 
sold,  was  invested  by  the  trustees  of  the  university  in  the  Bank 
Ijefore  anything  was  done  to  give  the  institution  of  learning 
a  practical  existence.^® 

Governor  Murphy,  on  coming  into  office,  advised  the  legis- 
lature to  locate  the  university,^^  and  in  1827  Tuscaloosa  was 


31  Act  of  Dec.  18,  1820. 

32  Act  of  Dec.  18.  1821. 

33  Alabama,  House  Journal,  7.'i  et  aen.;  Cahawba  Press,  June  29.  1822. 

34  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1828,  98. 

Sf>  Franklin  Enquirer,  April  21,  1824;  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1825, 

30  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1828,  98. 
27  Ibid.,  1826,  6. 


128  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

selected  as  its  site.^s  In  1828  the  trustees  drew  up  a  plan  in- 
cluding the  construction  of  the  following  buildings:  one  cen- 
tral building  to  be  used  as  a  chapel,  lecture  hall,  and  library; 
one  chemical  laboratory  and  lecture  hall;  four  professors* 
houses,  each  accomodating  two  professors;  two  or  more  ho- 
tels or  boarding  houses ;  and  six  dormitories.  It  was  propos- 
ed that  the  central  building,  the  laboratory,  two  of  the  profes- 
sors' houses,  one  hotel,  and  two  dormitories  be  erected  at  once, 
and  contracts  were  let  accordingly.^'*  A  tract  of  fifty  acres 
adjoining  the  university  site  was  purchased  so  that  clay  for 
brick  and  timber  for  structural  purposes  could  be  obtained 
close  at  hand.^"  The  corner-stone  was  laid  during  the  same 
year,^i  and  in  1831  the  University  of  Alabama  opened  its 
doors,  with  Dr.  Alva  Woods,  formerly  at  the  head  of  Transyl- 
vania University,  as  its  first  president.^ 2 

In  religious  matters,  the  Methodists  and  Baptists  have  al- 
ways held  the  center  of  the  field  in  Alabama.  The  predomi- 
nance of  these  two  denominations  in  the  old  Southwest  is  an 
interesting  phenomenon,  and  the  development  in  one  State 
would  probably  be  paralleled  by  the  situation  in  most  of  the 
others. 

The  period  following  the  American  Revolution  was  a  fertile 
one  for  the  sowing  of  religious  seed.  The  events  of  the 
French  Revolution  had  left  the  world  more  or  less  in  doubt 
concerning  its  old  creeds,  and  the  French  philosophers,  follow- 
ed by  Jefferson  in  this  Country,  gave  skepticism  a  wide  vogue. 
But  the  coming  of  the  Wesleys  and  Whitfield  had  earlier 
brought  a  new  faith,  and  at  a  time  when  America  was  begin- 
ning to  spread  westward. 

The  organization  of  the  Methodist  society  was  peculiarly  fit- 
ted to  frontier  conditions.  With  a  central  governing  body 
made  up  of  the  bishops,  a  definite  policy  could  be  adopted  and 
carried  out  in  an  effective  manner.  With  its  "free-for-all" 
ideas  regarding  the  ministry,  men  could  be  drawn  into  the 
service  of  the  church  whose  lack  of  education  was  atoned  for 
by  a  zeal  which  strengthened  them  to  endure  the  hardships  of 
the  forest  and  to  work  for  the  love  of  their  creed  with  very  lit- 
tle compensation  in  a  material  way.     The  institution  of  the 

38  Ibid.,  1827,  109-110. 

3f»  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1828,  13,  100,  207-208. 

40  Ibid.,  1828,  98. 

■ii  Mobile  Register,  Nov.  4,  1828. 

42  University  of  Alabama,  Bulletin,  November,  1906, 


RELIGION,  EDUCATION,  AND  THE  PRESS  129 

circuit  rider  enabled  one  man  to  do  the  work  of  several,  and 
was  a  most  efficient  means  of  meeting  frontier  conditions. 
Finally  the  development  of  the  "'camp  meeting"  brought  the 
scattered  people  together  under  conditions  which  made  a 
strong  emotional  appeal  to  the  pioneer,  and  enabled  a  few  men 
to  exert  a  powerful  influence  over  many.*^ 

In  the  combination  of  these  means,  the  Methodists  had  an 
advantage  over  all  other  denominations  in  the  thinly-settled 
frontier;  but  the  Baptists,  though  lacking  organization,  had 
a  zeal  which  largely  overcame  this  difficulty.  Their  appeal, 
like  that  of  the  Methodists,  was  to  the  emotions  of  the  plain 
man,  and  their  ministry  was  also  adapted  to  frontier  con- 
ditions. They  brought  their  gospel  to  the  pioneer  by  much 
the  same  means  as  those  employed  by  the  followers  of  Wesley, 
and  the  local  independence  of  their  churches  seems  to  have 
been  so  agreeable  to  the  free  spirit  of  the  West  that  it  enabled 
them  to  compete  on  equal  terms  with  their  religious  rivals. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  Nineteenth  Century,  religion  was 
neither  accepted  nor  rejected  with  the  indifference  that  is  ac- 
corded it  today.  The  average  back-woodsman  was  not  by  na- 
ture inclined  to  be  strictly  religious,  but  he  was  inclined  to  be 
positive.  When  the  question  came  to  him  he  took  his  stand 
either  for  it  or  against  it,  and  made  a  good  supporter  or  an 
out-spoken  antagonist.  Neither  was  he  inclined  to  be  theoret- 
ical, and  in  the  struggle  between  the  Methodists  and  the  Bap- 
tists, he  seems  to  have  been  more  interested  in  the  spirit  in 
which  the  rivals  worked  than  in  their  rival  creeds. 

But  all  this  does  not  apply  to  the  planters.  It  was  said  that 
the  cultivated  people  never  went  to  the  camp  meetings,'*^  and 
it  is  certain  that  these  w'ere  attended  by  a  degree  of  emotion- 
alism which  is  often  repulsive  to  the  more  refined.  The 
strongholds  of  the  Methodists  and  Baptists  were  in  the  rural 
districts,^^  and  that  the  townspeople  were  more  or  less  unfa- 
miliar with  camp  meeting  procedure  is  indicated  by  a  descrip- 
tion which  the  editor  of  the  Huntsville  Democ7'at,  who  was  a 
defender  of  religion,  thought  it  worth-while    to    print.''*'     A 

43  In  the  Minutes  of  Conferences,  Vol.  I,  may  be  found  lists  of  all  the 
Alabama  Methodist  congregations,  giving  the  number  of  members  for 
each  year,  beginning  with  1820. 

44  Royall,  Letters  from  Alabama,  122. 

45  Riley,  Baptists  in  Alabama,  64;  McDonnold,  Cumberland  Presbyteri-^ 
an  History,  162-163.  ,       „       , 

46  Huntsville  Democrat,  Oct.  14,  1823;  See  also  Southern  Advocate, 
Sept.  9,  1825,  and  July  28,  1826 ;  Huntsville  Democrat,  Oct.  14,  1823,  and 
Oct.  27,  1826. 


180  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

favorable  spot  in  the  woods  was  selected  as  the  place  of  wor- 
ship, and  a  pulpit  and  altar  erected  in  a  crude  way.  Benches 
were  arranged  around  this,  and  tents  for  the  accomodation  of 
tables  and  guests  were  pitched  about  the  grounds.  Two  ser- 
mons were  usually  preached  in  the  morning,  and  then  a  short 
recess  was  allowed  for  dinner.  At  this  time,  the  worshippers 
would  repair  to  the  tents  Where  abundant  supplies  of  food 
were  laid  out  for  the  benefit  of  all.  People  from  the  sur- 
rounding country  came  on  horseback,  in  carriages,  or  afoot,  as 
circumstances  permitted,  and  brought  their  picnic  lunches 
with  them.  The  occasion  was  one  of  social  as  well  as  religious 
enjoyment;  and  crowds  of  thousands  were  sometimes  assembl- 
ed to  hear  favorite  exhorters.  After  dinner,  the  services 
were  resumed,  and  they  were  always  concluded  by  an  invita- 
tion to  repentant  sinners  to  come  up  to  the  altar.  Large  num- 
bers usually  went  forward,  and  as  the  minister  prayed  for 
them,  the  congregation  went  into  a  religious  ecstacy  of  pray- 
ing, moaning,  and  shouting.  But  it  must  not  be  inferred  that 
these  were  disorderly  gatherings.  There  was  a  spirit  of  so- 
ciability and  festivity  on  the  part  of  the  people  and  of  gravity 
on  the  part  of  the  leaders  which  gave  them  a  dignity  of  their 
own. 

The  planters  usually  had  at  least  some  latent  religious  belief. 
There  were  Episcopalians  among  them,  but  they  were  not  of  a 
missionary  spirit  and  their  numbers  were  too  few  to  found 
many  churches  in  the  early  days.^"  Presbyterians  were  present 
in  larger  numbers  and  a  church  of  that  faith  was  usually  estab- 
lished in  the  leading  towns.^^  Here  they  were  active  rivals  of 
the  Methodists  and  Baptists,  who  also  established  churches 
and  held  "protracted"  meetings. ^^  Bible  societies  were  or- 
ganized in  several  places,'^^  and  Huntsville  had  an  inter-de- 
nominational Sunday  School.^i  In  Mobile  the  Episcopalians 
formed  the  nucleus  of  an  inter-denominational  protestant 
church,  which  was  the  only  rival  of  the  older  Catholic  congre- 
gation of  that  place.f^^ 

47  Whitaker,  Episcopal  Church,  13. 

48  Wyman,  Geographical  Sketch  of  Alabama,  in  Transactions,  Ala.  His. 
Soc.,  1898-1899,  III,  118;  Mobile  Register,  April  29,  1828,  and  Nov.  4. 
1828;  Franklin  Enquirer,  March  20,  1824. 

49  Huntsville  Democrat,  May  16,  1828. 

!io  Southern  Advocate,  Aug.  12,  1825;  Tuscumbian,  Apr.  18.  1825. 

51  Huntsville  Democrat,  Sept.  5,  1828. 

52  Mobile  Register,  Jan.  1,  1828,  and  Feb.  28,  1828. 


Chapter  XIV. 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  AND  SLAVERY 

In  a  newly-settled  area  to  which  people  have  flocked  from 
many  places  and  for  many  purposes,  one  would  expect  to  find 
varied  social  conditions,  and  in  Alabama  they  ran  all  the  way 
from  one  extreme  to  the  other.  To  begin  at  the  bottom,  the 
Indian  border  offered  a  favorite  location  for  fugitives  from 
justice,  traffickers  in  whisky,  and  rascals  of  every  description. 
The  State  had  no  jurisdiction  within  the  reservations,  and  this 
fact  was  taken  advantage  of  by  all  such  persons.  It  worked 
a  great  hardship  on  the  natives  and  gave  rise  to  complaints 
which  were  fully  justified,  but  very  hard  to  meet.^  It  was 
often  said  that  the  contact  of  the  red  men  with  the  whites  was 
sadly  detrimental  to  the  former,  and  since  their  associations 
were  usually  with  the  worst  of  the  whites,  this  is  not  hard  to 
understand. 

But  the  miscreants  were  not  confined  to  the  borders.  New 
country  is  attractive  to  adventurers  of  every  sort;  the  lonely 
roads  through  the  forests  afforded  robbers  a  choice  field  of 
operations,  while  the  towns  were  alluring  to  gamblers  of  va- 
rious breeds.2  There  is  an  account  of  a  band  of  men  inter- 
cepted on  their  way  to  Huntsville  whose  baggage  was  found  to 
contain  counterfeit  notes  and  gambling  devices  of  every  de- 
scription.3  Complaint  was  made  that  gamesters  in  that  town 
often  assumed  an  air  of  importance  because  they  were  noticed 
by  men  of  standing,^  and  the  young  men  seem  generally  to 
have  fallen  an  easy  prey  to  the  wandering  gamblers. ^ 

The  towns  were  infested  also  with  a  set  of  people  who  were 
not  criminals,  but  who  might  be  included  under  the  term 
"rowdy."^     While  the  young  men  of  the  towns  appear  to  have 

T^  Southern  Advocate,  April  14,  and  Dec.  15,  1826;  Alabama,  Senate 
Journal,  1821,  11;  Birney's  Birney,  55;  Levasseur,  Lafayette  en  Amcri- 
que,  II,  335-339. 

2  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1825;  12;  Huntsville  Democrat,  Apr.  6, 
1827,  and  June  30,  1826;  Hall  Papers,  Report  of  a  committee  of  the  leg- 
islature appointed  to  investigate  causes  of  crime. 

3  Southern  Advocate,  July  22,  1825. 

4  Huntsville  Democrat,  June  16,  1826. 

5  Huntsville  Democrat,  June  16,  1826,  and  May  25,  1827;  Saunders, 
Early  Settlers  in  Alabama,  45. 

6  Riley,  Conecuh  County,  93;  Saunders,  Early  Settlers  in  Alabama,  45- 
46;  Yerby,  Greensboro,  8,  12;  Tuscumbian,  Oct.  22,  1824. 


132  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

been  victims  to  dandyism,  idleness,  and  gambling  rather  than 
to  boorishness,"  the  rowdies  were  apparently  visitors  from 
the  surrounding  country  who  came  in  to  make  a  holiday  in  a 
boisterous  manner.  It  is  stated  that  in  Greensboro  horse  rac- 
ing through  the  main  street  became  such  a  nuisance  that  the 
citizens  were  provoked  to  threaten  to  shoot  any  one  who  per- 
sisted in  the  practice.^ 

It  was,  however,  at  the  cross-roads  store,  the  militia  mus- 
ter, and  the  barbecue  that  the  rustics  mostly  congregated. 
Horse-play  was  the  rule  at  such  places,  and  assemblies 
usually  ended  in  drunkenness  and  fighting.  Yet  these  frays 
were  not  blood-thirsty  affairs,  but  merely  a  hardy  form  of 
sport.  Those  who  engaged  in  them  were  not  brutal,  but  mere- 
ly vigorous  pioneers  who  loved  a  struggle  with  nature  or  with 
man.'' 

The  barbecue,  like  the  camp-meeting,  was  an  institution. 
Its  use  was  largely  political  and  its  appeal  seems  to  have  been 
almost  irresistible.  Before  an  election,  these  gatherings  were 
arranged  and  advertised  by  men  whose  interest  was  primarily 
financial.  Shoat  and  whisky  in  abundance  were  always  taken 
for  granted,  and  the  candidates  were  bound  to  appear  to  assert 
their  claims  and  prove  their  democracy. i*'  Sentiment  against 
the  barbecues  began  to  be  aroused  about  1826  and  the  Hunts- 
ville  papers  instituted  a  campaign  against  them.  The  candi- 
dates seem  to  have  been  willing  enough  to  drop  the  practice, 
and  some  of  them  began  to  refrain  from  attendance.^!  But 
whisky  was  always  one  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  a  politi- 
cal campaign.  A  Mobile  paper  published  an  ironical  offer  to 
furnish  any  man  enough  whisky  to  drown  his  reason  on  elec- 
tion day,  which  was  a  jibe  at  the  custom  of  "treating"  by  the 
candidates.  12  a  Huntsville  paper  makes  the  statement  that 
bottles  of  liquor  were  arranged  in  rows  with  labels  on  them 
which  the  casual  observer  would  take  for  designations  of 
brand,  but  which  in  reality  designated  the  candidate  who 
furnished  the  drink.^^ 

~  Tuscumbian,  Feb.  28,  1825. 

8  Yerby,  Greensboro,  14. 

^  Riley,  Makers  and  Romance  of  Alabama  History,  584-588. 

10  Royall,  Letters  frotn  North  America,  120;  Southern  Advocate,  July 
8,  1825,  and  June  1,  1827. 

11  Southern  Advocate,  Aug.  5,  1825,  July  13,  1827,  April,  18,  1828,  Apr. 
25,  1828,  May  2,  1828,  and  June  6,  1828;  Mobile  Register,  July  19,  1828. 

12  Niles  Register,  XXXVI,  165. 

13  Southern  Advocate,  Aug.  5,  1825. 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  AND  SLAVERY  133 

This  is  the  darker  side  of  a  picture  which  was  not  all  dark. 
The  habit  of  drinking  was  almost  universal  at  the  time,  and 
the  practice  of  "treating"  was  looked  upon  more  as  hospitali- 
ty than  as  bribery.  To  let  this  and  the  other  conditions  which 
have  been  described  prejudice  one's  mind  against  the  people  of 
early  Alabama  would  be  to  do  an  injustice  to  the  great  mass  of 
them  who  farmed  their  patches  of  cotton  and  corn ;  lived  a 
hardy,  rugged  life  close  to  nature ;  were  friendly  toward  their 
neighbors  and  hospitable  toward  strangers;  made  an  honest 
living  for  themselves  and  their  families ;  attended  to  their  own 
business  most  of  the  time  and  only  stopped  now  and  then  to 
celebrate.  1^ 

The  planters  formed  a  class  to  themselves,  yet  it  was  neither 
a  closed  nor  a  homogeneous  class.  The  smaller  ones  lived  much 
as  did  the  farmers,  while  those  with  extensive  estates  some- 
times attained  an  elegance  which  was  impressive.  The  great 
majority  of  them,  however,  were  merely  in  comfortable  cir- 
cumstances and  their  pride  was  based,  not  upon  wealth  or  dis- 
play, but  upon  the  sense  of  independence  and  authority  which 
their  position  in  society  gave  them. 

Perhaps  Montgomery  County  best  represents  the  planter 
life  of  the  early  days.  The  soil  here  was  more  uniformly  fer- 
tile than  that  of  most  other  counties,  and  consequently  it  was 
more  uniformly  taken  up  by  men  of  the  planter  type.  Prosperi- 
ty and  independence  came  to  be  the  rule.  Being  in  easy  water 
communication  with  Mobile  and  doing  business  on  a  sufficient 
scale  to  warrant  it,  the  planters  had  few  dealings  with  local 
merchants,  but  traded  directly  with  the  port  on  the  Gulf,  gen- 
erally going  down  once  a  year  to  purchase  supplies.  The  soci- 
ability of  the  people  and  the  law-abiding  nature  of  the  com- 
munity are  pictured  as  ideal,  no  jail  having  been  maintained 
and  only  one  duel  having  been  fought  during  the  early  period.i'' 

It  is  true  that  the  combination  of  rural  simplicity  and  native 
refinement  on  the  plantation  at  its  best  furnished  the  basis 
for  a  picturesque  and  pleasant  civilization,  but  the  best  is  not 
often  attained.  In  Madison  County,  for  instance,  there  was  a 
large  planting  community,  but  some  of  the  planters  were  ex- 
cessively wealthy  and  used  their  wealth  to  secure  commercial 
and  political  advantages.     This  aroused  the  antagonism  of 

14  Blue  MS.,  St.  Clair  County,  10;  Fayette  County,  10;  Pickens  Coun- 
ty, 10. 

15  Robertson,  Montgomery  County,  11-13,  15-16,  36-38,  125,  139-140. 


134  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

men  who  were  not  financially  independent,  and  there  was  a 
strong  element  of  Tennessee  farmers  to  wage  the  fight.  In 
fact  there  was  generally  a  tendency  for  the  poor  to  be  jealous 
of  the  rich,  but  there  was  no  antagonism  against  the  planters, 
as  such^«  The  plainer  people  had  no  political  leaders  of  their 
own  and  appear  to  have  been  perfectly  willing  to  support 
planters  of  means  when  they  made  it  their  business  to  court 
popular  favor  by  advocating  popular  measures. 

The  social  atmosphere  of  Alabama,  as  established  by  the 
planters,  varied  from  place  to  place.  Where  wealth  was  even- 
ly distributed  and  notable  fortunes  and  town-life  were  large- 
ly lacking,  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  that  gaiety  of 
social  intercourse  which  is  usually  thought  of  in  connection 
with  the  plantation.  The  people  spent  their  time  in  an  unas- 
suming and  largely  self-sufficient  way.  But  neighborliness 
and  hospitality  were  not  wanting  even  under  these  circum- 
stances. ^^  Gaiety  was  the  rule,  however,  in  the  towns,  which 
furnished  the  centers  of  recreation. ^^  Dramatic  clubs  were 
formed  among  the  younger  people,  theatres  were  built  in  the 
larger  communities,  and  dances  and  parties  were  of  frequent 
occurrence.  There  was  a  greater  freedom  in  Western  society 
than  in  that  of  the  East;i»  calling  was  more  informally  done, 
and  women  were  somewhat  less  restricted  by  convention.  An 
Eastern  paper  criticised  the  ladies  of  Huntsville  for  attending 
a  Fourth  of  July  celebration  at  the  local  inn,  and  a  local  editor 
defended  them,  saying  that  he  saw  nothing  improper  in  their 
having  done  so.^^  There  was  a  general  diffusion  of  informa- 
tion concerning  matters  of  common  knowledge,  but  though  li- 
braries were  established  in  Huntsville  and  Montgomery,  little 
attention  was,  as  a  rule,  paid  to  purely  intellectual  cultivation. 
Among  the  men,  horse-racing  was  a  favorite  sport  and  courses 
were  established  in  the  vicinity  of  the  more  important  towns. 
Some  fanciers  had  fast  horses  of  English  breed  and  kept  race- 

16  Huntsville  Democrat,  April  12,  1825,  March  17,  1826,  July  6,  1827, 
March  23,  1827;  Royall,  Letters  from  Alabama,  95,  100. 

1"  Saunders,  Early  Settlers  in  Alabamn,  42;  Meek,  The  Southwest,  32- 
33;  Blue  MS.  Baldwin  County,  10,  Autauga  County,  II,  10,  Lowndes 
County,  5,  10,  Wilcox  County,  10,  Lawrence  County,  10,  Limestone 
County,  10. 

IS  Yerby,  Greensboro,  17-19;  Royall,  Letters  from  North  America,  48; 
Hodgson,  Letters  from  North  America,  I,  185;  Huntsville  Democrat, 
April  13,  1827. 

19  Royall,  Letters  From  America,  46. 

20  Huntsville  Democrat,  Sept.  9,  1825. 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  AND  SLAVERY  135 

tracks  of  their  own.  Playing  for  stakes  was  a  common  diver- 
sion, and  drinking  was  as  prevalent  among  the  wealthy  as  it 
was  among  the  poorer  people.  It  is  stated  in  the  biography  of 
James  G.  Birney  that  he,  while  living  in  Huntsville,  followed 
the  fashion  in  all  these  things,2i  and  the  historian  of  the  Bap- 
tist denomination  in  Alabama  asserts  that  even  ministers  were 
often  patrons  of  the  bottle  and  carried  potions  of  their  favor- 
ite brands  in  their  pockets  when  they  went  to  meetings.22  Biit 
gentlemen  prided  themselves  on  knowing  when  they  had  had 
enough,  nor  were  such  practices  confined  to  Alabama  at  that 
time.  As  always,  the  earliest  days  were  the  roughest.  A  set- 
tler of  this  period  who  had  not  attended  a  trial  in  many  years, 
was  so  much  impressed  by  the  improved  order  which  he  found 
in  the  court-room  after  his  long  absence,  that  he  said  he  felt  as 
though  he  were  attending  church  services.23 

The  conditions  under  which  slavery  adjusted  itself  to  a  new 
frontier  afford  an  interesting  topic  for  study,  but,  since  mat- 
ters of  domestic  economy  were  taken  for  granted,  specific  in- 
formation has  been  difficult  to  obtain. 

Basil  Hall  gives  an  excellent  description  of  the  plantation 
system  as  it  existed  on  a  sea-island  estate  of  Georgia  in 
1828.24  The  hands  were  rated  in  accordance  with  their  physi- 
cal ability  and  given  daily  "tasks"  in  proportion  to  their 
strength.  The  fields  were  divided  into  quarter-acre  tracts, 
and  one,  two,  or  three  of  these  tracts,  depending  upon  the  na- 
ture of  the  work  to  be  done,  constituted  the  task  for  the  day. 
Diligence  enabled  the  slave  to  finish  his  assignment  early  in 
the  afternoon  and  he  was  allowed  to  spend  the  remainder  of 
the  day  at  leisure.  In  this  way  discipline  was  maintained  and 
the  necessity  for  compulsion  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Hall  states  that  this  system  was  universally  employed,  say- 
ing that  the  existence  of  distinct  classes  in  the  South  discour- 
aged all  innovation.  Other  accounts  show  that  the  tasking 
system  existed  in  South  Carolina.  Writers  of  the  period  stress 
the  necessity  for  well-defined  and  clearly-understood  regula- 
tions in  the  management  of  slaves,  and  the  strict  enforcement 
of  discipline  is  insisted  upon  as  a  prime  necessity.25  The  dis- 
gruntled slave  had  the  recourse  of  running  away,  and  in  order 

21  Birney's  Birney,  42,  47-48. 

22  Riley,  Baptists  in  Alabama,  61. 

23  Saunders,  Early  Settlers  in  Alabama,  45. 

24  Basil  Hall,  Travels  in  North  America,  230-239. 

25  Southern  Agriculturist,  II,  575-576. 


186  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

to  prevent  this  and  secure  effective  organization,  regularity, 
kindness,  and  firmness  were  essential. 

When  the  system  was  transplanted  to  the  new  soil  of  Ala- 
bama, differences  in  spirit,  if  not  in  form,  would  necessarily 
arise;  but  the  available  information  is  too  scant  to  allow  a 
thorough  study  of  the  changes.  The  provisions  for  slavery 
which  were  incorporated  in  the  constitution  of  1819  were  of  a 
liberal  spirit.  The  legislature  might  not  forbid  the  importa- 
tion of  slaves  who  were  the  bona  fide  property  of  their  owners, 
but  it  was  empowered  to  prohibit  the  introduction  of  negroes 
for  sale.  Slaves  might  be  freed  by  their  owners  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  legislature,  or  the  legislature  might  take  the  initi- 
ative in  liberating  negroes  provided  the  consent  of  their  own- 
ers had  been  obtained,  or  remuneration  made.  In  addition, 
slaves  were  not  to  be  deprived  of  trial  by  petit  jury  when  ar- 
raigned for  crimes  more  serious  than  petty  larceny ;  and  in  the 
case  one  were  murdered  or  dismembered,  the  punishment  for 
the  crime  vras  to  be  the  same  as  though  a  white  man  had  been 
the  victim.  The  provisions  show  a  desire  to  treat  the  unfor- 
tunate race  with  consideration,  but  the  problem  of  managing 
slaves  was  a  delicate  one,  and  difficulties  developed.  The 
negroes  were  irresponsible  and  often  faithless.  When  they 
were  displeased,  they  frequently  ran  away  and  lodged  in 
swamps  to  prey  upon  the  surrounding  country;  when  they 
were  allowed  to  go  at  large  on  Sundays,  they  congregated  in 
the  towns  and  became  a  public  nuisance ;  when  they  were  al- 
lowed to  hire  out  their  own  time,  they  often  became  idlers  in 
the  streets ;  when  they  were  allowed  to  sell  the  produce  of  their 
leisure  hours,  they  often  stole  and  sold  the  property  of  their 
masters. 26  In  order  to  meet  this  situation,  acts  were  passed 
forbidding  slaves  to  sell  any  articles  except  such  simple  things 
as  they  could  make  with  their  own  hands.^"^  Passes  were  re- 
quired of  negroes  who  wished  to  visit  premises  belonging  to 
others  than  their  masters,^^  and  in  order  to  prevent  slaves 
from  wandering  around  the  country  or  holding  unauthorized 
meetings  where  dangerous  doctrines  might  be  inculcated,  a 
patrol  system  was  kept  up.  Military  districts  were  establish- 
ed, all  able-bodied  men  were  required  to  serve  in  the  militia, 

26  Alabama  Republican,  Sept.  13,  1822;  Ibid.,  Aug.  29,  1823;  Alabama 
Journal.  Jan.  6,  1826;  Ibid.,  May  19,  1826;  Ibid.,  Sept.  15,  1826;  Tuscum- 
hian,  June  28,  1826;  Southern  Advocate,  June  22,  1827. 

27  Act  of  January  2,  1826. 

28  Act  of  March  6,  1805. 


SOCIAL  CONDITIONS  AND  SLAVERY  137 

and  the  captain  of  each  company  was  required  to  detail  pa- 
trols whose  duty  it  was  to  enforce  the  law.29  But  the  admin- 
istration of  the  system  was  frequently  lax,  and  it,  therefore, 
lacked  effectiveness. 

Slavery  was,  at  this  period,  looked  upon  by  Southerners  as 
a  necessary  evil,  and  the  slave-trader  was  heartily  detested  by 
the  planters  in  general.^o  This  spirit  found  its  expression  in 
Alabama  through  the  act  of  the  legislature  in  1826  which  for- 
bade the  introduction  of  slaves  for  purposes  of  sale.^i  It  is 
apparent,  too,  that  this  move  was  assisted  by  the  depressed 
state  of  the  cotton  market  which  accompanied  the  panic  of 
1825,  and  which  caused  many  to  feel  that  over-production  of 
the  staple  would  result  from  an  increase  in  the  number  of  la- 
borers.32  But  in  this  matter,  Alabama  was  merely  following 
the  lead  of  most  of  the  other  cotton-producing  states. 

The  question  of  slavery  was  open  to  debate  in  the  South 
until  the  activity  of  the  Abolitionists  and  the  Nat  Turner  in- 
surrection in  Virginia  convinced  the  planters  that  agitation 
was  dangerous  to  their  system  and  their  safety.^s  James  G. 
Birney,  who  was  a  resident  of  Huntsville  during  these  years, 
was  instrumental  in  the  enactment  of  the  lenient  provisions 
in  regard  to  slavery  which  have  been  mentioned,  and  his  biog- 
rapher states  that  his  ideas  were  not  in  advance  of  the  senti- 
ment of  the  planters  of  that  day.^*  Opinions  deprecating  the 
existence  of  slavery  were  printed  by  some  of  the  editors  who 
published  papers  in  Alabama,^^  and  in  1824  the  Tuscaloosa 
Mirror  advertised  that  subscriptions  to  Benjamin  Lundy's  pi- 
oneer abolitionist  paper,  the  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipa- 
tion, would  be  received  at  the  office  of  the  local  publication.8« 
In  discussing  a  memorial  from  the  legislature  of  Ohio,  which 
advocated  general  emancipation,  the  Governor  of  Alabama 
spoke  mildly  and  said  that  an  offer  of  remuneration  by  the 
Government  might  some  day  be  opportune.^" 

29  Act  of  Dec.  18,  1812. 

30  Southern  Advocate,  Oct.  21,  1826;  Ibid.,  June  23,  1826;  Birney's 
Birney,  56 ;  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1823,  15. 

31  Act  of  Jan.  13,  1827. 

32  Huntsville  Democrat,  Dec.  22,  1826. 
83  Birney's  Birney,  72. 

34  Ibid.,  72. 

35  Southern  Advocate,  Dec.  30,  1825.  Speaking  of  the  slave  trade,  the 
editor  of  this  paper  says:  "On  one  vessel  the  slaves  happily  revolted 
and  killed  the  crew." 

36  Tuscaloosa,  Mirror,  Aug.  7,  1825. 

87  Alabama,  Senate  Journal,  1825,  13-14. 


188  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

The  first  step  toward  the  defensive  attitude  was  taken  when 
the  legislature  attempted  in  1827  to  pass  an  act  forbidding  the 
teaching  of  slaves  by  free  persons.  Though  receiving  the  sup- 
port of  a  good  part  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  State,  the 
measure  was  defeated  by  the  opposition  which  it  encountered 
in  the  Tennessee  Valley.^** 

This  is  the  only_  instance  where  any  degree  of  sectionalism 
is  betrayed  in  the  treatment  of  a  question  related  to  slavery 
in  Alabama  during  the  'twenties.  Even  in  the  vote  on  the  bill 
to  prohibit  the  further  introduction  of  slaves  for  sale,  there 
is  no  alignment  of  slave-holding  against  non-slave-holding 
counties.  The  Tennessee  Valley  and  the  Alabama-Tombigbee 
Valleys  were  the  principal  cotton-producing  areas,  but  this 
fact  would  never  be  discovered  by  a  study  of  the  votes.  There 
were  some  planters  who  thought  that  enough  slaves  had  al- 
ready been  introduced,  while  there  were  farmers  who  expect- 
ed some  day  to  purchase  slaves  and  become  planters  them- 
selves. Such  a  situation  emphasizes  the  point  previously 
brought  out  that  there  was  no  class  antagonism  between  the 
cotton  planter  and  the  small  farmer. 

In  the  Tennessee  Valley  there  were  a  few  estates  numbering 
several  hundred  slaves,  but  the  majority  of  men  who  come  out 
to  Alabama  were  in  moderate  circumstances.  It  was  not 
those  who  had  made  their  fortunes,  but  those  who  sought  to 
make  them,  who  were  willing  to  sever  the  old  ties  and  move  in- 
to the  new  country.  Twenty  or  thirty  negroes  seem  to  have 
been  a  normal  force  for  the  average  estate,  but  the  majority 
of  men  who  emigrated  to  Alabama  had,  it  would  seem,  not  so 
many  as  this. 

The  early  history  of  Alabama  appears  to  have  been  deeply 
influenced  by  the  relatively  close  contact  between  the  planters 
and  the  farmers.  The  frontier  conditions  which  threw  men 
upon  their  own  resources  and  promoted  rapid  changes  in  sta- 
tion ;  the  relatively  narrow  extent  of  the  cotton-producing 
areas  and  the  consequent  proximity  of  planting  and  farming 
districts ;  the  moderate  estates  of  the  planters  and  the  lack  of 
exclusive  society  outside  the  largest  towns ;  the  relatively  small 
number  of  planters  as  compared  with  the  farmers, — all  these 
conditions  made  Alabama  a  state  where  democracy  was  the 
rule  in  spite  of  slavery. 

38  Alabama,  House  Journal,  1827,  209. 


Chapter  XV. 


CONCLUSION 

Having  attempted  to  trace  the  economic  and  political  de- 
velopment of  Alabama  during  the  formative  period,  it  remains 
to  point  out  those  factors  which  appear  to  have  had  special 
significance.  We  begin  with  a  country  which  contained  but 
one  white  settlement  isolated  in  the  midst  of  Indian  tribes. 
The  native  had  long  dreaded  the  continued  intrusion  of  the 
white  man,  and  the  effects  of  the  unwelcome  contact  were  tell- 
ing upon  him  in  several  important  ways.  The  sturdy  self-re- 
liance which  the  wilderness  had  instilled  in  him  was  being  un- 
dermined by  a  state  of  semi-dependence,  wTiile  whisky  and  the 
sharpers  who  sold  it  to  him  were  combining  to  degrade  his 
natural  honesty.  But  the  white  man  was  striking  at  the  roots 
of  his  existence  in  another  way.  As  his  land  was  taken  from 
him  bit  by  bit,  the  problem  of  living  by  the  chase  became  ever 
more  difficult.  It  was  already  impossible  to  rely  altogether 
upon  game  for  subsistence,  and  all  the  southern  Indians  en- 
gaged in  primitive  agriculture,  the  agents  sent  among  them 
by  the  Government  doing  all  they  could  to  promote  the  indus- 
try by  the  introduction  of  new  crops  and  improved  methods. 
But  the  Red  Man  looked  ahead  and  adopted  one  or  the  other  of 
two  policies  against  the  future.  He  either  strove  to  adapt  him- 
self to  the  conditions  of  civilization,  or  he  assumed  an  atti- 
tude of  hostile  resistance  to  the  invasion  of  the  whites. 

The  white  men  who  pushed  ahead  of  civilization  into  the 
Alabama  region  came  partly  as  traders  and  partly  as  settlers. 
Some  of  the  traders  took  up  their  abode  among  the  Indians 
and  chose  native  wives  from  among  them.  Those  who  came 
for  agricultural  purposes  gathered  upon  the  lower  Tombigbee, 
where  the  land  had  been  cleared  of  the  Indian  title.  Some  of 
them  used  large  numbers  of  slaves  in  the  culture  of  indigo  and 
cotton,  while  others  raised  great  herds  of  cattle  which  roamed 
throughout  the  year  in  the  cane-brakes.  English,  Scottish, 
and  American  blood  was  mixed  with  that  of  the  natives  in  this 
crude  frontier  society. 

When  the  War  of  1812  was  over;  when  the  Creeks  had  been 
defeated  by  Jackson  and  new  lands  thrown  open  to  settlement, 


140  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

squatters  rushed  in  ahead  of  the  Government  sales.  The  best 
lands  were  first  put  on  the  market,  and  by  the  time  they  were 
offered  at  public  auction,  the  high  price  of  cotton  had  cre- 
ated a  feverish  demand  for  these  tracts.  Currency  disorders 
added  to  the  excitement  of  speculation,  and  the  result  was  that 
the  actual  settlers,  who  were  men  without  means,  could  not 
compete  for  possession.  It  was  in  the  years  1817,  1818,  and 
1819,  during  which  time  the  boom  rose  and  fell,  that  the  cot- 
ton kingdom  was  planted  in  Alabama.  The  planters  from  the 
very  first  took  the  river  valleys  for  their  own,  but  the  prairie 
region,  passing  just  south  of  Montgomery  and  Tuscaloosa  and 
joining  the  upper  Alabama  basin  with  that  of  the  Black  War- 
rior, was  not  extensively  settled  until  the  period  of  the  'thir- 
ties. With  this  exception,  the  cotton  producing  areas  were 
marked  out  during  the  period  of  first  settlement.  The  men 
who  were  not  wealthy  enough  to  own  slaves  or  to  purchase 
the  most  desirable  cotton  lands  took  up  their  abode  in  the  back 
country,  which  offered  fertile  though  isolated  fields ;  and  here 
they  were  usually  able  to  purchase  their  farms  at  the  minimum 
price  of  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  an  acre  which  prevailed  after 
the  speculative  period  was  over.  Thus  there  was  not  a  great 
deal  of  active  competition  between  the  two  agricultural  class- 
es in  the  purchase  of  lands,  and  circumstances  effected  such  a 
distribution  of  the  territory  between  them  that  no  general  re- 
adjustment was  afterward  necessary.  It  is  true  that  the  per- 
centage of  slaves  in  Alabama  gradually  increased,  but  the  only 
counties  in  which  the  change  was  marked  were  those  of  the 
prairie  region,  which  had  not  been  extensively  settled  by  men 
of  the  farming  class. 

The  outstanding  economic  factor  during  the  period  of  set- 
tlement was  the  condition  of  indebtedness  which  applied  to 
the  community  as  a  whole.  Money  was  in  great  demand  for 
investment  in  lands  and  slaves,  and  though  the  production  of 
cotton  brought  in  considerable  funds,  much  was  reinvested  in 
agricultural  equipment,  while  a  large  part  went  for  supplies 
of  flour,  corn,  and  pork.  So  great  was  the  interest  in  cotton 
planting  that  it  was  quite  difficult  to  secure  capital  for  other 
business.  The  result  was  that  merchandising  was  left  large- 
ly to  men  from  the  Northern  States,  while  banking  had  to  be 
carried  on  either  by  those  who  were  able  to  secure  special  priv- 
ileges through  their  operations,  or  by  the  State. 

While  the  planter  who  operated  on  a  large  scale  could  deal 
directly  with  Mobile  or  New  Orleans  and  thereby  render  him- 


CONCLUSION  141 

self  largely  independent  of  country  merchants  and  bankers, 
the  small  farmer,  dependent  upon  a  local  market  and  a  disord- 
ered currency,  was  at  a  disadvantage  in  financial  transactions. 
The  remoteness  of  the  Tennessee  Valley  region  from  New  Or- 
leans, and  the  questionable  transactions  of  the  Merchants'  and 
Planters'  Bank  of  Huntsville  rendered  this  situation  particu- 
larly acute,  and  promoted  a  class  antagonism  between  the 
small  farmers,  predominantly  of  Tennessee  origin,  and  the 
Georgia  financiers  and  their  associates.  It  was  out  of  this 
antagonism  that  partisan  differences  first  arose  among  the 
people  in  Alabama;  and,  though  spreading  to  the  rest  of  the 
State,  the  storm-center  was  always  in  the  north. 

Of  course  there  had  been  political  differences  from  the  very 
first,  but  these  agitated  the  office-seekers  rather  than  the  set- 
tlers. It  is  of  much  significance  for  later  developments  that 
William  H.  Crawford,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  under 
Monroe,  controlled  the  Federal  patronage  of  Alabama  during 
the  first  years  of  her  existence.  Tait,  Walker,  and  the  Bibbs 
were  his  principal  adherents  within  the  State.  The  jealousy 
created  by  this  situation  cemented  the  anti-Crawford  leaders 
into  a  union  against  the  Georgia  men.  It  was  probably  be- 
cause North  Carolina  had  sent  a  number  of  her  prominent  cit- 
izens to  Alabama  that  she  furnished  the  leading  antagonists 
of  the  Crawford  faction. 

Israel  Pickens  stands  out  as  the  first  to  see  the  possibilities 
of  the  situation  and  to  bring  forward  an  issue  which  would 
transform  personal  differences  into  real  party  issues.  Pro- 
vision had  been  made  in  the  constitution  for  the  establishment 
of  a  State  Bank  and  an  attempt  had  been  made  to  found  such 
an  institution  by  private  subscription,  but  the  necessary  capi- 
tal was  not  forthcoming  and  the  plan  failed.  When  Pickens 
came  into  office,  there  was  pending  a  scheme  for  entrusting 
the  fate  of  the  State  corporation  to  the  care  of  the  existing 
private  banks,  but  Pickens  vetoed  the  bill  and  proposed  a 
bank  the  capital  of  which  should  consist  entirely  of  the  funds 
of  the  State.  The  people  needed  money,  and  this  was  to  be  a 
people's  bank.  Though  it  was  not  until  the  beginning  of  his 
second  term  of  office  that  he  was  able  to  put  the  scheme 
through,  the  Bank,  which  was  founded  upon  democratic  rath- 
er than  upon  financial  principles,  finally  went  into  operation 
in  1824,  to  the  great  delight  of  all  those  who  had  everything 
to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose  by  the  experiment. 


142  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

By  this  stroke,  Pickens  had  united  the  anti-Crawford  lead- 
ers with  the  men  of  the  small-farmer  class,  as  opposed  to  the 
Crawford  men  from  Georgia  and  the  conservative  class  among 
the  planters  and  merchants. 

In  the  face  of  such  a  combination,  the  Crawford  men  had  no 
chance  at  all  and,  William  Wyatt  Bibb  and  John  W.  Walker 
having  died,  practically  all  the  more  desirable  offices  were 
wrested  from  them.  The  Georgia  men  had  never  been  strong 
at  general  elections,  but  in  the  legislature  their  power  had  been 
great,  and  even  now  their  partisans  were  able  to  make  a  strong 
fight  in  that  body. 

This  situation  brings  out  an  important  point  in  Alabama 
politics.  The  constitution  of  1819  is  one  of  the  few  original 
frames  of  State  government  which  lasted  without  substantial 
changes  until  the  Civil  War.  This  stability  was  due,  in  part 
at  least,  to  the  combination  of  conservatism  with  progressive- 
ness  in  the  charter  and  this  character  was  due  to  conditions 
surrounding  its  origin.  In  1819,  Alabama  had  a  large  number 
of  poor  settlers  and  a  small  number  of  wealthy  planters 
and  speculators.  The  former  class  had  little  interest  in  poli- 
tics, as  such,  while  the  latter  had  many  reasons  for  such  an 
interest.  As  a  matter  of  course,  the  men  who  had  the  time, 
the  ambition,  the  ability,  and  the  means  to  engage  in  politics 
were  chosen  to  the  convention.  Thus  the  unsuspecting  set- 
tler sent  to  represent  him  a  man  whose  point  of  view  was  en- 
tirely different  from  his  own.  Knowing  that  they  could  not 
afford  to  antagonize  the  poorer  men  who  greatly  outnumbered 
them,  yet  wishing  to  keep  the  management  of  the  government 
in  their  own  hands,  the  framers  of  the  constitution  drew  up  an 
instrument  which  was  admirably  suited  to  their  purposes. 
While  granting  manhood  suffrage  and  apportioning  repre- 
sentation according  to  white  population,  it  gave  almost  su- 
preme authority  to  the  legislature,  which,  in  the  natural 
course  of  events,  would  be  made  up  largely  of  men  of  some 
property. 

This  arrangement  would  not  have  worked  as  intended  had 
the  poorer  men  ever  united  to  support  candidates  from  among 
themselves,  but  this  they  never  did.  They  accepted  their 
wealthier  neighbors  as  leaders  and  secured  legislation  in  their 
favor  only  when  an  ambitious  politician,  such  as  Pickens, 
sought  popular  favor  through  popular  measures. 

The  lack  of  consistency  in  the  votes  of  the  legislature  pro- 
claims an  absence  of  fixed  partisan  principles  and  a  prepond- 


CONCLUSION  148 

erance  of  personal  vagaries,  but  when  the  people  voted,  they 
spoke  clearly,  and  two  convictions  stand  out  to  show  the  bent 
of  their  minds:  there  was  a  strong  antagonism  between  the 
north  and  south  of  the  State,  and  there  was  a  decided  prefer- 
ence for  Jackson  on  the  part  of  the  plain  men.  The  conserva- 
tive class  showed  a  strong  prejudice  against  Jackson,  but  in 
1824  they  were  outvoted  in  almost  every  county  in  Alabama. 

It  is  significant  that  both  sections  of  the  State  were  carried 
for  Jackson  in  1824.  It  is  also  significant  that  the  strongest 
opposition  to  him  was  made  in  the  southern  cotton-producing 
area.  The  percentage  of  slaves,  and  hence  the  strength  of 
the  planting  interest,  was  practically  the  same  in  the  Ten- 
nessee Valley  as  in  the  Alabama-Tombigbee  region.  The 
stronger  vote  which  Jackson  received  in  the  former  section 
was  due,  it  would  seem,  to  the  greater  contrast  which  existed 
there  between  wealth  and  poverty,  and  to  the  class  antagon- 
ism which  the  situation  engendered.  This  was  aggravated  by 
the  fact  that,  though  Tennesseeans  greatly  predominated  in 
the  population  of  the  Valley,  the  planters  were  largely  from 
other  states. 

Before  the  election  of  1824,  it  was  generally  expected  that 
Adams  would  carry  the  southern  cotton  section  of  Alabama. 
The  press  was  strongly  in  his  favor,  and  the  Warrior-Tombig- 
bee  section  showed  a  consistent  opposition  to  Jackson  in  the 
legislature.  The  General's  unexpected  strength  in  this  region 
may  reasonably  be  taken  to  indicate  the  predominance,  even 
in  the  heart  of  the  cotton  belt,  of  the  men  whose  votes  spoke 
more  powerfully  than  their  arguments — ^the  small  farmers. 

As  has  been  mentioned,  the  prairie  country  was  the  only  ex- 
tensive region  where  a  large  proportion  of  the  soil  was  suitable 
for  cotton  culture,  and  it  was  only  here  that  the  percentage  of 
slaves  increased  markedly  after  the  first  period  of  settlement 
was  over.  Farmers  mingled  with  the  planters  in  all  sections 
of  the  State,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  planters,  as  a  class,, 
could  ever  have  carried  more  than  a  few  counties  of  the  Black 
Belt,  if  even  they  could  have  done  so  much.  Their  success  de- 
pended upon  their  ability  to  draw  support  from  among  their 
neighbors,  and  the  alliance  of  the  anti-Crawford  leaders  with 
the  farmers  on  the  bank  question  shows  that  there  was  no 
aversion  to  such  co-operation. 

In  the  matter  of  the  Presidency,  it  seems  that  the  farmers 
and  the  planters  were  very  clearly  divided  on  the  question  of 
Jacksonism,  but  in  1828  the  desire  to  defeat  Adams  was  strong 


/ 


144  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

enough  to  unite  both  classes  in  support  of  the  General.  His 
old  enemies  went  over  with  reservations,  and  their  support 
was  but  temporary. 

Though  the  Crawford  faction  had  been  discredited,  and  the 
opposition  to  Jackson  had  completely  lost  its  hold  by  1828,  a 
movement  was  already  on  foot  which  was  fraught  with  signifi- 
cance for  the  future,  and  which  was  to  put  a  new  face  upon 
the  political  situation. 

The  belief  in  a  strict  construction  of  the  Constitution  is  as 
old  as  the  Government,  but  when  Jefferson  and  his  party  ob- 
tained control,  agitation  of  the  point  no  longer  seemed  neces- 
sary. Posession  of  power,  however,  soon  changed  the  point  of 
view  of  the  Republicans,  and  when  the  South  and  the  West 
combined  to  bring  on  the  War  of  1812,  the  old  views  seemed 
to  have  lost  much  of  their  weight  with  Madison  and  the  slave 
states.  It  was  at  this  period  of  Republican  supremacy  that 
John  Randolph  came  forward  as  the  champion  of  state  rights, 
declaring  that  his  party  had  forsaken  its  original  principles. 
Henry  Adams  says  that  it  was  Randolph  who  forecast  the  pol- 
icy of  Calhoun  by  uniting  the  slave  interest  with  the  advo- 
cacy of  strict  construction. 1 

It  was  not  until  the  free  states  outstripped  the  slave  states 
in  growth  and  political  power  that  the  South  as  a  whole  came 
to  realize  that  its  only  hope  lay  in  decentralization.  But  Ran- 
dolph looked  before  him  and  shaped  his  policy  to  the  future. 
There  were  others  who  shared  his  views,  however.  Among 
these  Nathaniel  Macon  and  John  Taylor  were  prominent.  The 
connection  between  these  men  and  the  Crawford  party  of 
Georgia  was  close,  and  in  a  letter  to  Boiling  Hall,  Macon  urg- 
ed the  point  that  to  give  Congress  the  right  to  make  internal 
improvements  would  be  to  give  it  the  right  to  free  every  slave 
in  the  United  States.- 

Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  not  strange  that  Dixon 
H.  Lewis,  the  nephew  of  Boiling  Hall,  was  the  first  advocate 
of  state  rights  in  Alabama,  but  the  movement  was  not  isolat- 
ed. The  election  of  John  Quincy  Adams  and  the  enactment 
of  the  tariff  of  1824  gave  the  signal  for  the  revival  of  anti- 
nationalistic  propaganda  in  the  South.  South  Carolina,  under 
the  influence  of  William  Smith  and  Thomas  Cooper,  took  the 

1  Adams,  John  Randolph,  288-289. 

2  Hall  Papers,  Nathaniel  Macon  to  Boiling  Hall,  Feb.  13,  1820,  and  Jan. 
«?    1825 


CONCLUSION  145 

lead  in  this  movement,  while  in  Congress,  Giles  and  Randolph 
attacked  the  Administration  from  the  strict  constructionist 
point  of  view.  But  Calhoun  did  not  come  out  as  leader  of  the 
state  rights  movement  until  after  1828. ^ 

Though  the  Alabama  papers  took  sides  with  Giles  and  Ran- 
dolph or  with  Adams,  according  as  they  were  Administration 
or  anti-Administration  publications,  no  state  excepting  Geor- 
gia seems  to  have  influenced  Alabama  politics  directly.  Lead- 
ers from  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia  did  not  form  individual 
groups,  but  worked  in  combinations,  while  those  from  Georgia 
formed  a  distinct  faction  and  thus  gave  their  State  a  political 
status  in  Alabama.  Yet,  after  the  fall  of  the  Crawford  fac- 
tion, there  was  not  much  sympathy  between  the  two  common- 
wealths. .  The  quarrel  between  Governor  Troup  and  Presi- 
dent Adams  over  the  question  of  the  removal  of  the  Creek  In- 
dians from  Georgia  excited  little  fi'iendly  interest,  most  of  the 
local  editors  taking  a  critical  attitude  toward  the  fiery  Gov- 
ernor. But  in  Montgomery  County  a  meeting  was  held  in 
November,  1826,  and  here  Troup's  policy  was  upheld  by  some 
of  the  leading  men  of  the  community.^  It  is  natural  that  such 
a  feeling  should  have  been  manifest  in  this  locality,  for  it  was 
here  that  the  influence  of  planters  from  Georgia  was  strong- 
est. It  is  also  natural  that  it  should  have  been  this  County 
which  sent  Dixon  Hall  Lewis  to  the  legislature. 

The  political  ideas  of  this  young  man  had  been  shaped  by 
his  uncle.  Boiling  Hall,  who  was  so  closely  connected  with  the 
Crawford  faction.  Lewis  had  worked  for  Crawford  in  the 
election  of  1824,  and  now  in  1826  he  went  to  Cahawba  as  a 
representative  in  the  legislature.  His  course  in  opposition  to 
internal  improvements  and  a  liberal  interpretation  of  the  Con- 
stitution was  a  reflection  of  a  general  movement  throughout 
the  South.  His  attitude  toward  the  Troup  controversy,  and  his 
advocacy  of  a  policy  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State 
over  the  Creeks,  show  his  sympathy  with  the  position  of  the 
Georgia  Governor;  while  his  attack  upon  the  State  Bank  ex- 
hibits his  connection  with  the  old  Crawford  faction. 

The  majority  of  men  in  Alabama  at  this  time  were  strongly 
opposed  to  the  Crawford  group,  strongly  in  favor  of  the  State 
Bank,  and  strongly  Nationalistic  in  their  feelings.  Yet,  by 
good  political  management,  Lewis  succeeded  in  gaining  some 

3  Houston,  A  Study  of  Nullification  in  South  Carolina,  Chap.  IX ; 
Boucher,  The  Nullification  Controversy  in  South  Carolina,  Chap.  I. 

4  Mobile  Register.  Nov.  28.  1826. 


146  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

ground  for  his  ideas.  The  important  point  is,  however,  that 
this  scion  of  the  Crawford  party  was  the  first  leader  in  Ala- 
bama to  advocate  state  rights,  and  thus  he  revived  a  faction 
which  seemed  politically  dead  by  making  it  the  bulwark  of  the 
slave  power  through  the  policy  of  strict  construction. 

The  significance  of  this  movement  was  not  to  become  evi- 
dent until  Jackson's  attitude  toward  South  Carolina  in  the  nul- 
lification controversy  raised  up  enemies  from  among  his 
friends.  Then  Lewis  and  the  men  who  believed  as  he  did 
found  their  numbers  greatly  strengthened.  Then  the  Whig 
party  grew  up  in  the  South  and,  advocating  state  rights,  it 
became  the  mouth-piece  of  the  slave-holders.  Thus  it  was 
Lewis  who  formed  the  transition  link  between  the  Crawford 
faction  of  1824  and  the  Whig  party  of  1840. 

While  the  slave-holding  counties  usually  came  to  support 
the  Whigs,  those  where  the  small  farmer  predominated  usual- 
ly remained  Democratic.  Yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
slave  question  never  entered  directly  into  partisan  divisions. 
If  the  farmers  had  united  against  slavery,  they  could  still  have 
carried  practically  the  entire  State,  as  they  did  in  1824 ;  for, 
even  in  the  strongest  slave-holding  counties,  the  planters  alone 
could  rarely  have  commanded  a  majority  of  the  votes.  Their 
success  depended  upon  their  ability  to  carry  their  farming 
neighbors  with  them,  which  fact  is  attested  by  the  great  fluc- 
tuation in  the  Whig  vote  from  one  campaign  to  the  next. 

Other  factors,  too,  are  necessary  in  order  to  understand  the 
relations  between  the  two  parties.  The  solidly  Democratic 
vote  of  northern  Alabama,  in  spite  of  the  large  number  of 
slaves  in  the  Tennessee  Valley,  indicates  that  the  rivalry  be- 
tween the  two  sections  of  the  State  had  much  to  do  with  polit- 
ical alignments.  The  sectional  votes  in  other  States  show  that 
local  conditions  influenced  the  result,  and  that  slave-holding 
was  not  the  only  important  determining  factor.  For  in- 
stance, eastern  Tennessee  and  western  North  Carolina  had  a 
much  smaller  percentage  of  slaves  than  did  the  Tennessee  Val- 
ley of  Alabama,  yet  the  former  sections  showed  a  strong  Whig 
tendency,  while  the  latter  was  uniformly  Democratic. ^ 

The  writer  hopes  to  continue  this  study  in  order  to 
trace  the  influence  of  early  conditions  upon  later  political 
tendencies  and  alignments. 

5  See  maps  at  the  end  of  The  Whig  Party  in  the  South,  by  A.  C.  Cole 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


I.    Manuscript  Letters  and  Papers. 

William  W.  Bibb  MS.  This  collection  of  letters,  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Alabama  Department  of  Archives  and  His- 
tory, is  invaluable  because  of  the  light  which  it  throws  up- 
on the  relations  existing  between  the  first  political  lead- 
ers of  Alabama  and  their  friends  in  Georgia  and  Wash- 
ington. 

Biddle  MS.  This  extensive  collection  of  letters,  in  the  Li- 
brary of  Congress,  contains  instructions  written  by  Nich- 
olas Biddle  to  the  presidents  of  some  of  the  Southern 
branches  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  These  af- 
ford some  insight  into  the  financial  aspects  of  the  cotton 
trade. 

Blue  MS.  The  Alabama  Department  of  Archives  and  His- 
tory possesses  this  collection  of  papers  brought  together 
by  Mr.  M.  P.  Blue.  It  consists  of  information  concern- 
ing the  early  history  of  the  several  counties  of  Alabama, 
various  men  having  contributed  from  their  personal 
knowledge. 

Boiling  Hall  MS.  This  collection  of  letters  supplements  the 
Bibb  papers  and  gives  an  inside  view  of  political  affairs. 
It  is  in  the  possession  of  the  Alabama  Department  of  Ar- 
chives and  History. 

Jackson  MS.  This  voluminous  collection  of  the  letters  of 
Andrew  Jackson  contains  scattered  information  concern- 
ing Indian  affairs,  public  lands,  and  politics  in  Alabama. 
It  is  in  the  Library  of  Congress. 

Jackson-Coffee  MS.  About  two  hundred  letters  written  by 
Andrew  Jackson  to  General  John  Coffee,  of  Florence, 
Alabama.  They  contain  scattered  information  such  as 
that  'in  the  above  mentioned  collection.  Typewritten 
copies  of  the  originals  are  in  the  Library  of  Congress. 

A.  B.  Meek  MS.  Papers  brought  together  by  Mr.  Meek  with 
the  idea  of  publishing  a  history  of  Alabama.  In  Alabama 
Department  of  Archives  and  History. 

Mississippi  Transcripts.  Transcripts  made  by  Dr.  Thomas 
M.  Owen  from  the  original  records  of  Mississippi  Terri- 


148  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

tory,  which  material  is  preserved  by  the  Mississippi  De- 
partment of  Archives  and  History. 

Pickett  MS.  Certain  unpublished  papers  of  A.  J.  Pickett, 
author  of  the  History  of  Alabama.  They  are  preserved 
by  the  Alabama  Department  of  Archives  and  History. 

Charles  Tait  MS.  These  letters,  copied  from  the  originals, 
are  in  Alabama  Department  of  Archives  and  History. 
They  supplement  the  Bibb,  Hall,  and  Walker  papers,  and 
are  especially  valuable  because  they  contain  letters  from 
such  men  as  William  H.  Crawford  and  John  C.  Calhoun, 
giving  an  insight  into  the  political  affiliations  of  the 
leaders  in  Alabama. 

J.  W.  Walker  MS.  Containing  letters  dealing  with  the  most 
important  events  in  the  early  history  of  Alabama. — Ala- 
bama Department  of  Archives  and  History. 

Yancey  Papers.  Collection  in  the  Alabama  Department  of 
Archives  and  History ;  contains  the  manuscript  of  an  obit- 
uary notice  of  Dixon  Hall  Lewis,  which  gives  the  best 
available  account  of  the  early  life  of  that  important  man. 

II.     DOCUMENTARY  MATERIAL. 

The  published  documents  of  the  Federal  Government,  es- 
pecially the  American  State  Papers  and  the  Statutes  at  Large, 
have  been  used  extensively  in  this  work.  In  addition,  the  rec- 
ords of  the  General  Land  Office  and  of  the  Indian  Office 
have  been  searched.  The  local  and  special  documents  used  are 
listed  below: 

Alabama — Journal  of  the  Constitutumal  Convention  of  1819. 
Acts  of  the  Legislature    of    Alabama    Territory, 

1819. 
Acts  of  the  General  Assembly  of  Alabama,  1819- 

1828. 
Journal  of  the  Council  of  Alabama  Territory,  1818. 
Journal,  of  the  Senate  of  Alabama,  1819-1828. 
Journal,  of  the  Hou^e  of  Representatives  of  the 
State  of  Alabama,  1819-1828. 
Aiken,  John  G. — Digest  of  the  Laws  of  the  State  of  Alabama, 

Philadelphia,  1833. 
Brickel,  R.  C. — Digest  of  the  Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court 

of  the  State  of  Alabama,  Montgomery,  1874. 
Hitchcock,  Henry — The  Alabama  Justice  of  the  Peace,  Ca- 
hawba,  1822. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  149 

Holmes,  David — Executiye  Journal  of  Governor  Holmes,  of 
Mississippi   Territory,   1814-1817,   MS. 

Morse,  Jedidiah — Report  on  Indian  A//airs(  1820),  New  Hav- 
en, 1822. 

Owen,  Thomas  M..— Alabama  Archives,  Washington,  Govern- 
ment Printing  Office,  1905. 

Snedecor,  V.  Gayle — A  Directory  of  Greene  County  for  1855- 
6,  Mobile,  1856. 

Tharin,  W.  C. — A  Directory  for  Marengo  County  for  1860-61, 
Mobile,  1861. 

Toulmin,  Harry — A  Digest  of  the  Laws  of  the  State  of  Ala- 
bama, Cahawba,  1823. 

United  States,  House  Documents,  26.  Cong.,  1  Sess.,  Doc.  172, 
p.  1348.  Table  showing  condition  of  Alabama  banks, 
1819-1838. 

University  of  Alabama,  Historical  Catalogue,  1821-1870,  Tus- 
caloosa, 1870. 

III.     CONTEMPORARY  SOURCES. 

Breckenridge,  Richard,  Diary,  1816,  in  Alabama  Historical 
Society,  Transactions,  III,  142-153.  A  good  first-hand 
account  of  Alabama  as  seen  by  one  who  came  out  upon  the 
first  wave  of  settlement. 

Commons,  J.  R.,  Documentary  History  of  American  Indus- 
trial Society.  Vols.  I  and  II,  by  U.  B.  Phillips,  deal  with 
Southern  agriculture,  but  Alabama  receives  little  atten- 
tion.    Cleveland,  1910. 

Cummins,  E.  H.,  A  Summary  Geography  of  Alabama,  one  of 
the  United  States,  Philadelphia,  1819.  Inaccurate,  but  in- 
teresting. 

Darby,  William,  A  Geographical  Description  of  the  State  of 
Louisiana,  the  Southern  Part  of  the  State  of  Mississippi 
and  Territory  of  Alabama,  ivith  a  Map,  New  York,  1817. 

Darby,  William,  Emigrant's  Guide,  New  York,  1818.  Con- 
tains interesting  information  for  this  early  date. 

Fessenden,  Thomas  G.,  The  Complete  Farmer,  Philadelphia, 
1839. 

Gaines,  George  S.,  Letters  Relating  to  Events  in  South  Ala- 
bama, 1805-1814,  Alabama  Historical  Society,  Transac- 
tions, III,  184-192. 

Garrett,  William,  Reminiscences  of  Public  Men  in  Alabama 
for  Thirty  Years,  Atlanta,  1872.     Contains  excellent  first- 


150  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

hand  information  of  men  and  events  during  the  period 
under  consideration. 

Thwaites,  Reuben  Gold,  Early  Westei-n  Travels,  A  large  col- 
lection of  accounts  by  travelers  and  explorers.  The  Ten- 
nessee River  region  is  touched  upon,  but  there  is  nothing 
for  the  southern  part  of  Alabama. 

Hall,  Basil,  Travels  in  North  America  in  the  Years  1^27  and 
1828,  Philadelphia,  1829.  Being  a  captain  of  the  British 
Navy,  Hall  has  a  point  of  view  different  from  that  of  any 
other  traveler  of  that  period,  and  his  discussion  of  scenes 
in  Alabama  is  instructive. 

Hawkins,  Benjamin,  A  Sketch  of  the  Creek  Country,  1798- 
1799,  in  Collections  of  Georgia  Historical  Society,  III,  Pt. 
I.  Published  at  Savannah,  1848.  Hawkins  was  agent 
among  the  Creeks  for  many  years,  and  this  is  the  best 
available  account  of  that  Nation  at  the  time  when  the 
pressure  of  the  white  immigration  into  the  southwest  was 
beginning  to  tell. 

Hodgson,  A.,  Letters  from  North  America,  London,  1824. 
These  letters  written  in  1820  by  a  studious  observer,  form 
an  important  source  of  information. 

Holland,  Edwin  C,  A  Refutation  of  the  Calumnies  Circulated 
Against  the  Southern  and  Western  States  Respecting 
Slavery,  Charleston,  1822.  This  account  of  slavery  is 
based  upon  conditions  in  South  Carolina,  but  it  is  the  best 
available  Southern  treatise  on  the  subject  for  the  period 
under  discussion  in  this  paper. 

Levasseur,  A.,  Lafayette  en  Amerique  en  1824.  et  1825,  Brux- 
elles,  1829.  The  author  was  secretary  to  Lafayette  dur- 
ing his  tour  of  America.  The  account  is  more  interest- 
ing than  instructive. 

Lincecum,  Gideon,  Autobiography,  in  Mississippi  Historical 
Society,  Publications,  VIII,  443.  An  interesting  account 
of  his  journey  by  one  of  the  early  immigrants  to  Alabama. 

Macaulay,  Zachary,  Negro  Slavery  in  the  United  States  and 
West  Indies,  London,  1823.  This  gives  an  English  view 
of  the  subject,  and  is  violently  critical. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  Minutes  of  the  Annual  Confer- 
ences, 1773-1828,  Vol.  I,  New  York,  1840.  Here  can  be 
obtained  statistics  of  the  various  congregations  through- 
out the  Country. 

Morse,  Jedidiah,  Geography,  Charleston,  1819. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  151 

Owen,  John,  Journal,  1818,  in  Southern  Historical  Association 
Publications,  I,  90-97.  Another  account  written  by  an 
early  immigrant  of  his  journey  to  Alabama. 

Price,  T.  W.,  The  Life  of  T.  W.  Price,  Written  by  Himself,  Sel- 
ma,  1877.  There  is  little  information  of  a  public  nature 
in  this  book. 

Raymond,  James,  Prize  Essay  on  the  Comparative  Economy 
of  Free  and  Slave  Labor  in  AgricvXture,  published  by  the 
Frederick  County  Agricultural  Society,  Frederick,  Md., 

1827.  This  view  is  too  superficial  to  be  of  value  to  the 
student. 

Robertson,  W.  G.,  Recollections  of  the  Early  Settlers  of  Mont- 
gomery County,  1892.  This  is  an  interesting  account 
of  an  interesting  community,  written  by  one  who 
says  that  "the  writer  was  personally  acquainted  with  ev- 
ery one  of  them." 

Royall,  Anne,  Southern  Tours,  or  Second  Series  of  the  Black 
Book,  Washington,  1830.  These  letters,  written  on  a  sec- 
ond tour  of  Alabama,  are  interesting  because  they  indi- 
cate the  contrast  produced  by  ten  years  of  development  in 
the  new  State. 

Royall,  Anne,  Letters  from  Alabama  on  Various  Subjects, 
1817-1822,  Washington,  1830.  Written  by  an  erratic 
woman,  there  is  a  good  deal  that  is  personal  and  a  good 
deal  that  is  pertinent  in  these  letters. 

Saxe- Weimar,  Duke  Bernhard  of.  Travels  Through  North 
America  During  the  Years  1825  and  1826,  Philadelphia, 

1828.  Traveling  the  same  route  between  New  York  and 
New  Orleans  that  was  followed  by  most  of  the  foreign 
tourists,  and  passing  through  Montgomery  and  Mobile, 
this  author  gives  us  still  another  point  of  view. 

Stuart,  James,  Three  Years  in  North  America,  New  York, 

1833.     Another  and  later  account  by  one  who  passed  along 

the  same  route  followed  by  Saxe- Weimar  and  others. 
Townes,  S.  A.,  The  History  of  Marion,  Marion,  1844.     This  is 

a  good  account  of  the  establishing  of  a  new  community 

in  Alabama. 
Terry,  Jesse,  A  Portraiture  of  Domestic  Slavery  in  the  United 

States,  Philadelphia,  1817.     A  good  Northern  view. 
Warden,  D.  B.,  A  Statistical,  Political,  and  Historical  Account 

of    the   United  States  of    North    America,  Edinburgh, 

1819. 


152  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

Welsh,  Mary,  Reminiscences  of  Old  St.  Stephens,  in  Alabama 
Historical  Society,  Transactions,  III,  208-226.  This  is  a 
retrospective  account  by  one  who  had  known  the  place 
long  since. 

Woodward,  Thomas  S.,  Reminiscences  of  the  Creek  or  Musco- 
gee Indians,  Montgomery,  1859.  There  is  much  here  that 
does  not  concern  Indians,  and,  since  the  author  knows  the 
ground,  the  information  is  of  value. 

Wyman,  Justus,  A  Geographical  Sketch  of  the  Alabama  Tei-ri- 
tory,  in  Alabama  Historical  Society,  Transactions,  III, 
107-127.  Only  a  part  of  the  original  account  is  publish- 
ed here,  the  unpublished  manuscript  being  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Woburn,  Massachusetts,  Public  Library. 

IV.     SPECIAL  WORKS  AND  ARTICLES 

Excepting  in  the  case  of  Pickett's  work  and  the  local  his- 
tories, little  reliance  has  been  placed  upon  the  secondary  ma- 
terial dealing  especially  with  Alabama.  This  is  for  the  reas- 
on that  most  of  it  touches  but  scantily  upon  the  early  period 
discussed  in  this  monograph. 

Ball,  T.  H.,  Clarke  County  and  Its  Surroundings,  title  page 
missing,  1882.     This  contains  good  information  of  local 
character. 
Betts,  E.  C,  Early  History  of  Huntsville,  Alabama,  Montgom- 
ery, 1909.     This  is  one  of  the  best  of  local  histories,  and, 
because  of  the  importance  of  the  community,  is    of    es- 
pecial value. 
Birney,  William,  James  G.  Bimey  and  his  Times,  New  York, 
1890.     Though  only  a  small  part  of  this  book  deals  with 
the  Alabama  period  of  Birney's  life,  it    contains    some 
worth-while  information. 
Blue,  M.  P.,  History  of  Montgomery,  Montgomery,  1878.     The 
author  was  a  diligent  collector  of  local  information,  and 
his  account  is  of  value. 
Blue,  M.  P.,  Churches  of  the  City  of  Montgomery,  Montgom- 
ery, 1878.     This  account  goes  back  to  beginnings. 
Brant  and  Fuller,  Compilers,  Memorial  Record  of  Alabafna, 
Madison,  Wisconsin,  1893.    Too  biographical;  good  for 
reference  only. 
Brewer,  W.,  Alabama:  Her  History,  Resources,  Wa/r  Record, 
and  Public  Men,  15W-1872,  Montgomery,  1872.        This 
V>ook  does  not  give  a  good  general  account,  but  the  discus- 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  153 

sion  of  the  separate  counties  contains  desirable  informa- 
tion. 

Brown,  W.  G.,  A  History  of  Alabama,  University  Publishing 
Company,  1900.  A  textbook,  based  upon  insufficient  ma- 
terial. 

Burnett,  E.  C,  Bourbon  County,  in  American  Historical  Re- 
view, XV,  66-111,  297-353. 

Claiborne,  J.  F.  H.,  Mississippi  as  a  Province,  Territory,  and 
State,  Jackson,  1880.  This  contains  valuable  informa- 
tion on  the  question  of  the  division  of  Mississippi  Terri- 
tory. 

Claiborne,  J.  F.  H.,  Life  and  Times  of  General  Sam  Dale, 
New  York,  1860.  A  good  biography  of  an  interesting 
man. 

Clarke,  Willis  G.,  History  of  Education  in  Alabama,  Washing- 
ton, 1889.  Contains  but  little  relative  to  the  formative 
period. 

Cobbs  and  Whittaker,  Statistics  of  the  Protesta/nt  Episcopal 
Church  of  Alabama, — Alabama  Historical  Society,  Trans- 
actions, II,  83-89. 

Denson,  John  V.,  Slavery  Laws  in  Alabama;  in  Alabama  Poly- 
technic Institute  Historical  Studies,  Auburn,  1908. 

Dewey,  D.  R.,  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  New 
York,  1915. 

Donnell,  E.  J.,  Chronological  and  Statistical  History  of  Cot- 
ton, 1879.     Exhaustive  statistics. 

DuBose,  Joel  C,  Ed.,  Notable  Men  of  Alabama,  Southern  His- 
torical Association,  Atlanta,  1904.  Little  of  general  in- 
terest. 

DuBose,  Joel  C,  Sketches  of  Alabama  History,  Philadelphia, 
1901.     This  contains  good  information  on  special  topics. 

Flint,  Timothy,  The  History  and  Geography  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley,  Cincinnati,  1833.  Little  information  for  Ala- 
bama. 

Hall,  J.  H.  B.,  The  History  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Alabama  Prior  to  1826;  in  Alabama  Historical 
Society,  Transactions,  IV,  365-394.  This  gives  some  idea 
of  religious  conditions  during  the  early  period. 

Hamilton,  P.  J.,  Early  Roads  in  Alabama;  in  Alabama  Histor- 
ical Society,  Transactions,  II,  39-56.  Information  in- 
complete. 

Hamilton,  P.  J.,  Some  Southern  Yankees,  American  Historical 
Magazine,  III,  303-312.     Personal,  but  interesting. 


164  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

Hamilton,  P.  J.,  St.  Stephens:  Spanish  Fort  and  American 
Towm;  in  Alabama  Historical  Society,  Transactions,  IH, 
227-234.     Not  satisfying. 

Hamilton,  P.  J.,  Colonial  Mobile,  15 J 9-1821,  Houghton  Mif- 
flin, 1910.  A  work  signifying  much  research  and  con- 
taining much  information. 

Hammond,  M.  B.,  The  Cotton  Industry,  New  York,  1897.  Val- 
uable. 

Hardy,  John,  Selma,  her  Institutions  and  her  Men,  Selma, 
1879.     A  good  local  history. 

Harper,  Roland  M.,  Economic  Botany  of  Alabama,  bulletin  of 
the  Geographical  Survey,  1913.  Valuable  for  topograph- 
ical information. 

Harper,  Roland  M.,  A  Preliminary  Soil  Census  of  Alabama  and 
West  Florida,  Reprint  from  Soil  Science,  IV,  No.  2.,  Aug. 
1917. 

Harvey,  Meriwether,  Slavery  in  Auburn,  Alabama;  in  Ala- 
bama Polytechnic  Institute  Historical  Studies,  Auburn, 
1907.     A  limited  view. 

Haskins,  Charles  H.,  The  Yazoo  Land  Companies,  New  York, 
1891.  Important  for  an  understanding  of  the  situation 
in  regard  to  the  public  lands. 

Hodgson,  Joseph,  The  Cradle  of  the  Confederacy,  Mobile,  1876. 
An  important  work,  but  contains  little  information  for 
the  early  period. 

Jack,  Theodore  H.,  Sectionalism  and  Party  Politics  in  Alabama, 
1819-1842,  Banta  Pub.  Company,  Menasha,  Wisconsin, 
1919.  This  is  the  only  scientific  political  study  for  this 
period,  but  little  space  is  devoted  to  developments  previ- 
ous to  Jackson's  administration. 

Jones,  Charles  C,  Antiquities  of  the  Southern  Indians,  New 
York,  1873. 

Jones,  Charles  C,  The  Dead  Towns  of  Georgia,  Savannah, 
1878. 

Leftwich,  Geo.  J.,  Cotton  Gin  Port  and  Gaines'  Trace,  in  Mis- 
sissippi Historical  Society,  Publications,  VII,  263.  This 
article  throws  light  upon  one  of  the  earliest  transporta- 
tion developments  in  the  Alabama-Mississippi  region. 

Little,  John  Buckner,  The  History  of  Butler  County,  Alabama, 
Cincinnati,  1885.  Scant  and  unreliable  for  the  early  pe- 
riod. 

Love,  Wm.  A.,  General  Jackson's  Military  Rood,  in  Mississip- 
pi Historical  Society,  Publications,  XI,  403-417. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  155 

McDonnold,  B.  W.,  History  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church  Nashville,  1888. 

Martin,  W.  E.,  Internal  Improvements  in  Alabama,  in  Johns 
Hopkins  University  Studies,  Series  20,  No.  4,  Baltimore, 
1902.     This  account  is  made  up  of  undigested  statistics. 

Meek,  A.  B.,  Romantic  Passages  in  Southwestern  History,  Mo- 
bile, 1857.  This  contains  a  good  treatment  of  certain 
phases. 

Monette,  John  W.,  History  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
New  York,  1846. 

Mooney,  James,  Myths  of  the  Cherokee,  in  the  Nineteenth  An- 
nual Report,  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Pt.  1,  11- 
548. 

Owen,  Thomas  M.,  History  of  Alabama  and  Dictionary  of 
Alabama  Biography,  IV  Vols.,  Chicago,  1921.  An  ency- 
clopedic work  containing  exhaustive  information,  and  in- 
valuable to  the  student  of  Alabama  history.  Published 
since  the  writing  of  this  monograph. 

Phillips,  U.  B.,  American  Negro  Slavery,  New  York,  1918.  A 
most  helpful  treatise,  covering  all  phases  of  the  subject 
from  the  agricultural  point  of  view. 

Phillips,  U.  B.,  The  Economics  of  the  Plantation,  in  the  South 
Atlantic  Quarterly,  II,  231.     A  suggestive  study. 

Phillips,  U.  B.  The  Southern  Black  Belt,  American  Historical 
Review,  XI,  798.  This  is  an  interesting  study  of  the  seg- 
regation of  the  slave  interest. 

Phillips,  U.  B.,  The  Slave  Labor  Problem  in  the  Cha/rleston 
District,  Boston,  1907. 

Phillips,  U.  B.,  The  Plantation  as  a  Civilizing  Factor,  Sewanee 
Review,  XII,  257.     An  original  view. 

Phillips,  U.  B.,  A  History  of  Transportation  in  the  Eastern 
Cotton  Belt  to  1860,  New  York,  1908.  Helpful  and  sug- 
gestive. 

Phillips,  U.  B.,  Georgia  and  State  Rights,  in  American  Histor- 
ical Association,  Report,  1901,  II,  15-224,  Separate, 
Government  Printing  Office,  1902.  Owing  to  the  close 
relation  between  Georgia  and  Alabama  politicians  during 
the  period  covered  by  this  study,  this  work  has  been  of 
great  value. 

Pickett,  A.  J.,  History  of  Alabama,  Birmingham,  1900.  Though 
somewhat  involved  in  details,  this  book  represents  care- 
ful research  by  a  man  who  also  had  wide  personal  knowl- 
edge in  his  field ;  on  many  points,  therefore,  it  is  an  orig- 


156  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

inal  source.  Though  not  without  error,  it  is  the  only  sol- 
id work  covering  Alabama  history  previous  to  the  period 
of  Statehood. 

Pitkin,  Timothy,  Statistical  View  of  the  Commerce  of  the 
United  States,  Hartford,  1816. 

Powell,  George,  History  of  Blount  County,  in  Alabama  Histor- 
ical Society,  Transactions,  1855.  This  gives  valuable  in- 
formation for  the  period  of  early  settlement. 

Reeves,  Jesse  S.,  The  Napoleonic  Exiles  in  America,  in  Johns 
Hopkins  University  Studies,  XXIII,  525-656. 

Riley,  B.  F.,  History  of  Conecuh  County,  Alabama,  Columbus, 
Georgia,  1887.  Gives  vivid  pictures  of  the  pioneer  peri- 
od. 

Riley,  B.  F.,  History  of  the  Baptists  of  Alabama,  Birmingham, 
1895. 

Riley,  B.  F.,  Makers  and  Romance  of  Alabama  History,  Birm- 
ingham, 1914.  This  book  is  made  up  of  chapters  on  vari- 
ous unrelated  topics,  some  of  which  are  illuminating.  Its 
biographical  sketches  are  good  for  reference. 

Riley,  F.  L.,  Location  and  Boundaries  of  Mississippi,  in  Mis- 
sissippi Historical  Society,  Publications,  III,  167-184. 

Saunders,  J.  E.,  Early  Settlers  of  Alabama,  New  Orleans, 
1899.  Contains  good  general  information,  and  the  bio- 
graphical portion  is  sometimes  useful  for  reference. 

Shakelford,  Josephus,  History  of  the  Muscle  Shoals  Baptist 
Association,  1820-1890,  Trinity,  Ala.,  1891.  The  point  of 
view  is  so  local  that  the  work  is  not  of  much  service. 

Shea,  J.  G.,  History  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United 
States,  Akron,  Ohio,  1890.  Contains  a  good  account  of 
the  activities  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Alabama  during 
the  period  under  review. 

Smith,  Nelson  F.,  History  of  Pickens  County,  Alabama,  Car- 
rollton,  Alabama,  1856.  This  is  one  of  the  best  local  histor- 
ies, giving  a  good  idea  of  the  early  development  of  one  of 
the  counties  in  the  back  country. 

Smith  and  DeLand,  Publishers,  Northern  Alabama,  Birming- 
ham, 1888.  Scattered  information  of  general  interest; 
but  valuable  principally  for  biographical  reference. 

Somerville,  H.  M.,  Trial  of  the  Alabamu  Supreme  Court  Judges 
in  1829,  in  report  of  the  twenty-second  annual  meeting 
of  the  Alabama  State  Bar  Association,  Montgomery,  1899. 
A  good  brief  account. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  157 

The  South  in  the  Building  of  the  Nation,  Richmond,  1909. 
This  is  a  co-operative  work.  The  portions  relating  to 
Alabama  are  too  general  to  be  of  value  for  the  period 
under  discussion. 

Sparks,  W.  H.,  The  Memories  of  Fifty  Years,  Macon,  Ga., 
1872.  Good  material  for  Georgia  and  Mississippi,  but 
little  of  value  for  Alabama. 

Stone,  Alfred  H.,  The  Cotton  Factorage  System  of  the  South- 
ern States,  in  American  Historical  Review,  XX,  557-565. 
This  is  a  scientific  and  suggestive  article. 

Street,  0.  D.,  Marshall  County  One  Hundred  Years  Ago,  Gun- 
tersville,  Ala.,  1903.     Contains  some  good  information. 

Teeple  and  Smith,  Publishers,  Jefferson  County  and  Birming- 
ham, Birmingham,  1887.  Too  biographical  to  be  of  real 
service. 

Thomas,  William  H.,  The  Birth  and  Growth  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  Alabama,  an  address  delivered  before  the  Alabama 
State  Bar  Association,  Montgomery,  1890.  Some  good 
points  are  made  in  this  paper. 

Tompkins,  Alma  Cole,  Charles  Tait,  in  Alabama  Polytechnic 
Institute  Historical  Studies,  Auburn,  1910.  A  good  brief 
account. 

United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  AtUis  of  American 
Agriculture,  Part  V,  Section  A — Cotton,  Washington, 
1918.  Contains  valuable  statistics  and  historical  infor- 
mation. 

Wallace,  J.  H.,  The  Alabama  State  Capital,  Montgomery,  1911. 
Contains  nothing  of  value  for  the  early  period. 

Watkins,  J.  L.,  Production  and  Price  of  Cotton  for  a  Hundred 
Years,  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture,  Washington,  1895. 

Weeks,  Stephen  B.,  History  of  Public  School  Education  in 
Alabama,  Washington,  Government  Printing  Office, 
1915.  Though  touching  but  lightly  upon  the  early  peri- 
od, this  is  a  reliable  work. 

West,  Anson,  A  History  of  Methodism  in  Alabama,  Nashville, 
1893.     This  is  not  a  scholarly  work. 

Whitaker,  Walter  C,  History  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  Alabama,  Birmingham,  1898.  Contains  lit- 
tle for  the  early  period. 

Whitfield,  Gains.  Jr.,  The  French  Grant  in  Alabama,  in  Ala- 
bama Historical  Society,  Transactions,  IV,  321-355.  This 
is  a  fairly  satisfactory  account  of  the  founding  of  De- 
mopolis  by  the  Napoleonic  refugees. 


168  THE  FORMATIVE  PERIOD  IN  ALABAMA 

Williams,  Thomas  M.,  Dixon  H.  Lewis,  in  Alabama  Polytech- 
nic Institute  Historical  Studies,  Auburn,  1912.  Consider- 
ing the  available  material,  a  satisfactory  work. 

Yerby,  W.  E.  W.,  History  of  Greerisboro,  Alabama,  Montgom- 
ery, 1908.  This  account  contains  some  useful  informa- 
tion. 

V.     NEWSPAPERS  AND  PERIODICALS. 

Alabama  Journal,  Montgomery;  in  the  Library  of  Congress, 

Det.  9,  1825— July    7,    1826,    Nov.  28,   1828;    in    Ala- 
bama Department  of  Archives,  Sept.  8,  1826 — July  27, 

1827. 
Alabajna  Republican,  Huntsville ;  in  the  Library  of  Congress, 

Jan.  5,  1819— April  22,  1825;  in  Alabama  Department  of 

Archives,  Sept.  15,  1820— Sept.  13,  1822. 
Alabama  Sentinel,  Tuscaloosa;  in  the  Library  of  Congress, 

Dec.  30,  1825. 
AmeHcan  Mirror,  Tuscaloosa;  in  the  Library    of    Congress, 

Jan.  3,  1824— Feb.  26,  1825. 
Cahawba  Press  and  Alabama  State  Intelligencer,  Cahawba; 

in  the  Library  of  Congress,  Dec.  30,  1820— July  22,  1826. 
Democrat,  Huntsville;  in  Alabama  Department  of  Archives, 

Oct.  14,  1823— Dec.  29,  1826. 
Franklin  Enquirer,  Tuscumbia;  in  Alabama  Department  of 

Archives,  March  13,  1824— tJune  9,  1824. 
Halcyon,  Greensboro;  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  April  24, 

1823— Dec.  30,  1823. 
Halcyon  and  Tombeckbee  Public  Advertiser,  St.  Stephens ;  in 

the  Library  of  Congress,  Jan.  9,  1819— Dec.  20,  1819; 

Jan.  10,  1820— Nov.  27,  1820;  Feb.  12,  1821— Dec.  22, 

1821 ;  Jan.  5,  1822— Nov.  2,  1822. 
Mobile  Argus;  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  Dec.  5,  1822 — Nov. 

6,  1823. 

Mobile  Commercial  Register;  in  Alabama  Department  of  Ar- 
chives, Nov.  17,  1827— Dec.  5,  1828,  and  following;  in 
Association  Public  Library,  Mobile,  Dec.  17,  1821 — Dec. 

7,  1824 ;  Dec.  9,  1825— Dec.  9,  1826 ;  June  4,  1828— May 
29,  1829,  and  following ;  in  the  Library  of  Congress,  Feb. 
18,  1825— Dec.  21,  1826. 

Mobile  Mercantile  Advertiser,  in  the  Library  of  Congress^ 
May  10,  1825— Dec.  18,  1824. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  159 

Southern  Advocate,  Huntsville;  in  the  Library  of  Congress, 
May  6,  1825— Dec.  24,  1828 ;  in  Alabama  Department  of 
Archives,  May  6,  1825— April  27,  1827;  May  18,  1827, 
and  following. 

Tuscumhian,  Tuscumbia;  in  Alabama  Department  of  Ar- 
chives, Sept.  1,  1824— Jan.  17,  1827. 

Washington  Republican,  Washington,  Mississippi  Territory; 
in  Mississippi  Department  of  Archives,  April  13,  1813 — 
Dec.  27,  1817. 

American  Farmer,  Baltimore,  1820-1828. 

Niles  Weekly  Register,  Baltimore,  Vols.  11-36. 

The  Southern  Agriculturist,  Charleston,  Vols.  1  and  2,  1828- 
1829. 


Chap.  I.— Plate  1. 


,>'J>''/  ^'f),< 


'/^. 


'Of 


^^^i 


//'.''//;/-'. 


.///;; 


y^w: 


^A// 


'/x '// . 


^/v 


^///, ;;', 

//''//". 
'^^o. ' 


Qi'/ 


r--:.-,T~.^' 


^/^ 


iii^il 

^7;^tf^//^y^^fi^^-:-^'^3'yA 

flo\r 

7 

'»'       K                          t-3 tef •re  ItH 

See  Maps,  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  18  Annual  Report. 


(161) 


Chap.  II.— Plate  2. 


Geological  Map  of  Alabama.     From  R.  M.  Harper,  Preliminary  Soil 
Census  of  Alabama,  p.  93. 


(162) 


Chap.  III.— Plate  3.    Road  Map,  1818. 


Roads — ^Based  on  map  of  U.  S.  by  John  Melish,  1818. 


(163) 


Chap.  III. — Plate  4.     Origin  of  Population  (approximate). 


\k^»4»r«l.<..\e^  . 

KaitJ"**"^^^^«V/ 

1      r? 

/  f^' 

fw 

m^ 

•■■-J  ■  ■ 

^   ' 

MoLYi 


^'itv&TVt- 


on 


l'^' 


A      X 


K    < 


X     X 


L'-N 


.♦-^-v^: 


»f  ^ 


" »- 


:V< 


ut> 


)>  J,    X   H    " 


ly  * 


■  X  V 


r/// 


'V.' 


>/iM*ti. 


/;v> 


'//, 


f   V 


\  f  '  •  I. ,  I  / 1 1      '  • 


I// 


*  " . 


0 


F^W 


^ 


///^ 


'I''  I.  Jjf  I. 


/ ,  I' 

1 1 


III 
■  1 1 1       II',- 


//.  /// 


■^f'^t?''''.',;:: 


// 


V, 


>ii( 


1,1'liniii 

H I  h  1 1  III  '  1 1 1 


II  7/ 


V 


^y/ 


// 


■//, 


Predonrino^M   Blevneixt 
E3  -  -  -Teuacss  ee 

(i6i) 


.nr^i 


Chap,  v.— Plate  5.    Vote  for  Governor,  1819. 


House  Journal,  1819,  37. 
(165) 


Chap.  V. — Plate  6.    To  Disapprove  Act  of  Certain  Members  of  Con- 
gress in  Censuring  (general  Jackson.    House,  1819. 


House  Journal,  1819.   4.5. 
(166) 


Chap,  v.— Plate  7. 


John    Melish    map.    1820. 
(167) 


Chap,  v.— Plate  8.    To  Reduce  Judicial  Tenure  to  Six  Years. 
Constitutional  Convention,  1819. 


Journal  of  Constitutional  Convention,  1819. 
(168) 


Chap.  V. — Plate  9.    To  Make  Majority  of  Members  Elected  to  Legisla- 
ture Sufficient  to  Establish  Branch  Bank  or  Renew  Bank 
Charter.     Constitutional  Convention,  1819. 


Fen: __ 

Aga^iTi?.t csa 

"Re. E 


Journal  of  Constitutional  Convention,  1819. 
(169) 


Chap.  VI. — Plate  10.    Indian  Cessions. 


Bureau  of  Ethnology,  18  Annual  Report,  Plate  I. 
(170) 


Chap.  VI.— Plate  11.    Value  of  Lands  Sold  in  Alabama. 
In  $100,000's. 

\wb   nor  ti8%  \%t^  it>o    >t»    «»>•  \xn    u»»  \t\y  vttfc    \ni    \%Y9  Kiv\   \*xo 


Tj 

Tfc 

I'll 

71 

i  ■ 

7o 

'  1 

fct 

!  1 

;  1 

(fO 

3% 

9\ 

Vl 

Vft 

At 

tu 

^ 

A-ft 

3» 
7^ 

T4 

5^ 

a.» 

■ 

1 

7 

T% 

i  \ 

4.0 

\  \ 

If 

\ 

lit 

'    / 

1    \ 

;    / 

1     \ 

10 

'   \ 

1     \ 

•  / 

1 

1  /^ 

1 

>    V 

-t 

1    / 

^  \ 

^ 

-"^ 

\ 

0 

ll: 

p^— 

— 

?^^ 

^ 

American  State  Papers,  Lands,  V,  384-385. 
(171) 


Chap.  VII.— Plate  12.    Average  Yearly  Price  of  Middling  Upland 

Cotton. 

In  cents. 

\V%     \t\fc  \»n     viv\    VIH     \«3©    \»W    \t»V  M«  \l»^  \»iT    Vllfc  ^»YT    \m  iftM     v»»<> 


^^ 

)l 

Tt 

% 

\t 

k 

1 
f 

x 

■\X 

% 

0 

\ 

■i^ 

« 

i 

\ 

it 

1 

f 

i 

t 

IV 

y 

11 

/ 

I  ♦ 

I I 

lA 

/ 

\\ 

/ 

\\ 

) 

\ 

/ 

\\ 

/ 

\ 

u 

/ 

y 

V 

X5 

/ 

1 

/ 

1^ 

/ 

V, 

1  X 

\\ 

3,1 

\ 

4  a 

\ 

\ 

1 

\ 

11 

\ 

\ 

/ 

\ 

It 

^ 

V 

/ 

\ 

n 

id 

1 

// 

v\ 

\\ 

/ 

V 

|iE' 

\ 

/ 

\ 

|i| 

\ 

r 

\ 

1% 

N- 

s.. 

^y 

\ 

la. 

\ 

/ 

V 

ti 

\ 

/ 

\ 

\ 

. 

Vft 

\ 

>v 

1 

1 

^' 

"'^ 

^ 

J.  L.  Watkins,  Production  and  Price  of  Cotton,  U.  S.  Department  of 

Agriculture,   Statistics,   Miscellaneous   Bulletins,   No.   9,  8-9, 

1895.      Also   used   by   later   writers. 


(172) 


Chap.  VII. — Plate  13.     Average  Valuation  of  Slaves  in  Mobile. 

In   dollars. 


\«t*t  IBS   \tv/,    \tn    n\%    \vn  \n»  vw    ^ti>.  \tx*  \tvt  \tw  vofc  \<t»i   \n-t  \xit\  \»<o. 


^■^ 

. 

I 

4X0 

V 

I 

, 

4-I* 

\ 

J 

y^* 

\ 

/ 

I 

4m> 

\ 

/ 

\ 

/ 

\ 

31* 

\ 

/ 

\ 

/ 

I 

?so 

■-^ 

\ 

/ 

I 

576 

\ 

/ 

I 

Ko 

\ 

35% 

I 

Mo 

I 

^frt 

I 

> 

V 

310 

I 

/ 

\ 

'Sio 

' 

/ 

> 

/ 

\ 

900 

/ 

'^ 

/ 

\ 

-- 

aA> 

V 

/ 

a.«A 

\ 

r 

■ 

1,70 

O.C>« 

, 

DeBow,    Industrial    Resources,    II,    79. 


(173) 


Chap.  VII.— Plate  14.    Cotton  Crop  of  South  Alahama,  1818-1830. 
In    1,000    bales. 
vvt_\m     *%V    v%vi   \tx>.    \%'>9    \t»^  \t>jj   \%i^    \»T    \ir>»  \«>.i   v«i« 


•Jo 


«? 


«6 
75^ 

To 
6S 

S5" 

50 
AS 

At> 

^^ 

^0 

XO 


Computed  increase  in  crop  proportionate  to  increase  in  number  of 

slaves  indicated  by 

Hazard,  U.  S.  Commercial  and  Statistical  Register^  III,  272. 
(From  Mobile  Letter  Sheet.) 
(174) 


ill 

/  ^ 

/ — •*— 

/  / 

/                                                                    y 
—I —  —_ ^ 

I  ^ 

I «'  

7  ~  ^^' 

1 z^- 

/  • 

I  /  

/ 7 

/  • 

/  • 

,  L £. 

y^    ^ 

?^ 


Chap.  VII. — Plate  15.     Slave  Population.     Census,  1818 


Walker  Papers. 
(175) 


Chap.  VII.— Plate   16.     Slave   Population,   1824. 


Huntsville  Democrat,  Nov.  22,  1824. 


LaTourette  Map. 


(176) 


Chap.  VII.— Plate  17.     Slave  Population,  1830. 


0/er  50   per  ce.\it.  slo-v/cs. 
4O-5'0    f  tY  cent,  ^lo-ves. 
30-40 


\o  -Jbo      .. 

[rn  0-10    - 

See  U.  S.  Census,  1830. 
(177) 


Chap.  Vlll.—Plate  18.    River  Map. 


(178) 


Chap.  IX. — Plate  19.    Imports  and  Exports  at  Mobile. 
In  $100,000. 


7^ 

77 

/ 

?\ 

2  1 

13 

IT 

/ 

\h 

/ 

>^ 

v. 

/ 

14- 

\ 

/ 

1  9 

1 

> 

\ 

/ 

\?. 

\ 

/ 

n 

10 
4 

^ 

T 
5 

2 
1 

[ 

1 

/ 

1 

^ 

1 

^. 

V 

/ 

• 
• 

0 

^ 

^ 

Exports- 
Imports 


Note:    Exports  include  coastwise  cotton. 
MacGregor,  Commercial  Statistics,  III,  289. 

(179) 


Chap.  XL— Plate  20.    Presidential  Election  of  1824. 


75"-100 
50-75 

Totct^ox  ^KVe^  69. 

Huntsville  Democrat,  Nov.  22,  1824.    Cahawba  Press,  Nov.  22,  1824, 

et  seq. 

(180) 


Chap.  XI.— Plate  21. 


On  Motion  Proposing  Jackson  for  Presidency. 
Senate,  1823. 


(181) 


Chap.  XL— Plate  22. 


On  Motion  Proposing  Jackson  for  Presidency. 
House,  1823. 


House  Journal,  1823,  77. 
(182) 


Chap.  XI.— Plate  23.    Election  of  United  States  Senator,  1822. 


(183) 


Chap.  XI.— Plate  24.    Election  of  United  States  Senator,  1822. 


House  Jo"urno4.^  1922/^  ^0. 
(184) 


Chap.  XL— Plate  25.     Election  of  United  States  Senator,  1824. 


(185) 


Chap.  XII.— Plate  26.    Vote  on  Bill  to  Extend  Jurisdiction  of  State 
Over  Creeks.     House,  1828. 


House  Journal,  1828,  263. 
(186) 


Chap.  XII. — Plate  27.    House  Vote  in  Election  of  United  States 
Senator,  1826. 


(187) 


(188) 


Chap.  XII.— Plate  29.     Vote  on  Bill  Fixing  the  State  Capital  at 
Tuscaloosa.   House,   1825. 


M\\c.T  Ij QcoArions  . . : \v.v/.t 


House  Journal,  1825,  75. 
(189) 


Chap.  XII. — Plate  30.    Vote  on  Lewis  Report  Proposing  Jackson  for 
Presidency.     House,  1827. 


House  Journal,  1827,  182  et  seq. 
(190) 


i 

§ 

ee 

s 

o 
u 


X 

Xi 

o 


(191) 


Chap.  XIV.— Plate  32.    Vote  on  Bill  to  Prohibit  Import  cf  Slaves  to 
State.     Senate,   1826. 


Senoie.  Jo  at  K\,oX,  1  ^^fe,  H3 . 

(192) 


UC  SOU'"FH'.  R'"vO\iL  LIBRARY  f^^' 


A    001  225  491 


